Walk Two Lifetimes
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: Sasuke told Naruto he could never understand the pain of losing a family he'd never had. So how can someone who had a clan respected by the entire village know what it's like to be alone and hated by everyone? They're both about to find out. AU, No Pairings, Currently being Rewritten.
1. The Scroll

_Title: Walk Two Lifetimes  
Rating: Pg-13 (T) for violence and some graphic descriptions  
Setting: Early season 3 of Naruto Shippuuden (just after the new team 7 returns from seeing Sasuke the first time).  
Author: Anne Camp_

Konoha probably had one of the nicest atmospheres of any hidden village. The area rarely became too hot or too cold and predictable weather and seasons made growing food easy, plus it had the added protection of thick forests and mountains (part of the reason for its location, undoubtedly). Many other hidden villages had to rely on harsh climates and/or unpleasant conditions for protection.

Normally, Naruto would have reveled in the weather, but today he happened to be ignoring it in favor of doing something rather un-Naruto like. Even as he slurped up his usual Raman at Ichiraku's, he continued to study a series of scrolls he'd laid out on the counter next to him. It had turned more than one head (including the two running the stand). So as a pink-haired girl stepped through the material covering the front of the stand, it was no surprise that she commented.

"What are you looking at?" Sakura asked as she hopped up on the seat beside him.

Naruto looked up and smiled. "Hi, Sakura-chan!"

She returned the smile with one of her own, and turned to order. Then she looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "So?"

"These are some scrolls that Shizune-chan found the other day," he paused, taking a long slurp of Raman before turning back to the scroll. "Baa-chan thought that they might help."

"Help with what?" Sakura asked curiously. She almost regretted speaking up as his happy expression faded.

After a long pause, he took a deep breath. "Help me fulfill my promise to you," he said softly. Sakura froze for a moment before slowly turning to look down at the scrolls. So Tsunade-sensei had given these to him to help with Sasuke. She couldn't help but stare blankly as the steaming bowl of Raman appeared in front of her.

"Oh," Naruto continued, bright demeanor returning easily as he brought her attention back to him. "I think she said she had some for you too," his fox-like grin returned full force. The pink-haired kuronichi had to struggle to suppress a groan. Her teammate didn't understand that if Tsunade-sensei said she had some scrolls for her student, that meant two or three days of studying almost non-stop so she could have them completely memorized before the Godaime could give her any punishments for _not_ having them completely learned by heart in 'a decent amount of time'.

"Oh..." she finally replied and reached for the chopsticks and muttered, "Ikidakemasu." Beside her, and completely unaware of his friend's mood, the blond-haired shinobi went back to reading the scrolls before him, bound and determined to finish them all by the end of the day.

The sooner he got these figured out, the sooner her could go and get Sasuke back.

xXx

"Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto's piercing voice brought a sleeping Tsunade almost immediately awake (which was no easy feat as it normally took a good five minutes to wake her up from one of her "afternoon" naps). She sat up bolt upright, accidentally knocking a rather large pile of paperwork onto the floor. Unable to do anything about it, she watched it all fall in slow motion, knowing even as she lurched forward that no ninja could truly be fast enough to catch them all. Three seconds later, she clasped a rather large bundle of paper to her ample chest, glaring with a throbbing vein on her forehead at what she had been unable to catch.

Slowly, she turned her annoyed gaze to the blue-eyed shinobi who stood before her, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"Er...sorry about that, baa-chan," he said slowly, noting the look on her face. Her angry expression only deepened.

"Naruto," she said in a dangerously soft voice that had him cringing. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Lots," the teen flashed a grin, either ignoring her (still) deepening anger, or suddenly becoming completely unaware of it. "Look at this," he burst out after a few moments, using his usual aversion tactic of changing the subject. He plopped the scrolls she'd given him that morning down on the desk in front of her. Her expression of rage melted into one of surprise.

"Naruto," she said slowly, "you finished reading these already?"

Naruto stood up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well, mostly," he responded.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Mostly?" she asked, realizing that she'd have to set her paperwork down so she'd be able to smack him if he'd come back before he'd actually read them like she'd told him (in no uncertain terms) to..and without an appointment.

"Well," he said slowly, "I just looked through them to see if I thought they might help like you said." He pointed to one of the scrolls. "This one takes way too much chakra control for me to ever pull off." Tsunade looked down at the scroll and nodded. She'd been expecting that about this particular scroll. It talked about a genjitsu that while fairly difficult, was almost impossible to break, even with the Sharingan. "I'm gonna learn that one last," he continued. She raised an eyebrow in his direction, slightly skeptical that he should be trying it at all, but he'd already moved on.

"I don't know why you put this one in here," he actually lifted up the second scroll and glanced at it, annoyed that it didn't seem to be able to help with his problem. Tsunade frowned a bit. That scroll had talked about survival training and tracking. Even though it was a long shot, she figured that Naruto could use that kind of information. "I'm still gonna learn it, though," he grinned and tossed the scroll casually back onto the desk. Tsunade had to suppress a chuckle. Now that was the Naruto she knew.

Next, said blond picked up a third scroll, somewhere near the right of the pile. "This one I'm gonna start training on right now!" his grin widened. Tsunade had to suppress a sigh, wishing she'd bet on the outcome here, because she'd predicted correctly on all of his reactions to the scrolls so far. Of course, that only happened when she didn't have money on the line. That scroll taught a hand-to-hand fighter how to defend against and counter sword styles. She knew he'd eat that up like he ate Raman...well, maybe not quite that fast.

"And the rest of these," he gestured to the three scrolls left, "might help me a lot, but I don't know if I read them right." At that point Tsunade thanked her stars that she had not been betting on that, for while she knew that he might have a hard time understanding them with his level of knowledge and the fact that he still had problems reading sometimes (due to the lack of training or lousy teaching the adults in his life had given him at young ages...thinking about that always ticked her off), but she never would have thought he'd come out and actually say it. For a minute she blinked at him, wondering if this was the same Naruto she'd given her necklace to before shaking it off and setting her papers down as best she could without messing up the order anymore than it already was. Then she looked up into his blue eyes and shook her head.

"What don't you understand?" she heard herself asking.

Naruto seemed utterly perplexed as he looked at the remaining scrolls, scratching his head absent-mindedly. "Well, this one," he reached down and opened one up. "It says I can learn exactly how Sasuke feels. Why would there be a jitsu like that? And what does it mean?"

Tsunade took the scroll and skimmed over it quickly. After a few seconds, she rolled it back up, and set it carefully on the desk. It seemed terribly complicated for what it claimed to do. "I'm not sure, Naruto," she said slowly, after a while. "But it takes an incredible amount of chakra, so maybe it links you up with that person's chakra, or gives you a glimpse into his mind somehow. After all, if you know what an enemy is feeling, it's easier to predict and influence his choices." She fingered the old parchment of the scroll softly, her other hand resting on her chin thoughtfully. "But since we don't know exactly what it does, maybe you shouldn't-"

"No way!" Naruto slammed his fist on the table, causing Tsunade to bring a hand to the bridge of her nose as if to rub away a migraine...or a hangover. "If there's even a chance it'll help bring Sasuke back, then I'm gonna do it, dattebayo!"

She smiled again. "I knew you'd say that."

A scowl worked its way onto his face. "You weren't betting again, were you Baa-chan?"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't call me that."

xXx

Naruto took a deep breath as he stood in the center of his apartment in front of his beat-up "kitchen' table. It had taken him almost two days to commit the scroll to memory and learn the order of all the hand seals without making a mistake. Now, he felt ready to glimpse into his brother's mind (well, at least that's how baa-chan had interpreted it, so that was good enough for him).

He'd asked Sakura to be there, but she'd had to be on duty at the hospital, although she promised that no matter how late she got off, she'd stop by to check up on him. He didn't want to wait that long.

He nodded to Kakashi, who had come at his request (he figured it was only right because they were all apart of the same team, although inviting Sai had felt far too awkward, so he hadn't). The silver-haired jounin sat on the window sill, reading his stupid little book (again), but Naruto knew the older man was more than aware of everything going on around him.

Kakashi nodded back, and Naruto started the hand seals.

Ram, Ox, Rooster, Pig, Horse, Rooster, Dragon...this technique had 37 hand seals, and required the molded chakra to be placed into an ink seal directly on the paper. As small as it was, it seemed extremely intricate (although Naruto of all people knew how much power even the tiniest seal could have), and hadn't seemed to fade with time as the rest of the scroll did. Baa-chan had said that was because the seal had been used more than a few times in it's lifetime. It stayed dark and easy to see because of the chakra residue...whatever that meant.

As long as it worked, he didn't particularly care. ...Horse, Snake, Dog, Monkey, Ox, Ram. There, he'd finished.

Leaning forward, he gently placed his hands on the seal in the correct positions (he'd memorized those and even had baa-chan check and re-check to see if he had it right).

Almost immediately, he felt almost all of the chakra in his body leave him (and considering the extreme reserves he had thanks to Kyuubi, that surprised him). His eyes widened in alarm before he felt his knees begin to give out on him, and he had the vague impression of falling.

He heard someone call his name, as if calling from miles away, and then everything faded to black.

xXx

Uchiha Sasuke finished tying the large rope that Orochimaru insisted all of his subordinates wear (with maybe the exception of Kabuto) around his waste, securing his pants and shirt in place. He dropped the remaining excess and almost rolled his eyes. The Snake Sannin himself actually wore the thing tied in a bow (for some strange reason that Sasuke had yet to fathom, not that he actually wanted to know...).

He slipped his sword's sheath over his shoulder and head, and secured it in place on his back as well before turning toward the door. The gap between his and Orochimaru's levels had continued to shrink rapidly over these last few years, but now Sasuke felt like he'd almost come to a stand still. Soon, he'd have to confront the stupid Snake-freak and end this once and for all. After that, all he had to do was find his older brother and prove that he'd finally gotten strong enough to avenge his family.

Two days. That's what he planned on right now. With Orochimaru practically bed-ridden after he and Kabuto had come back from killing whichever contact they'd gone out to meet (and then Sasuke's old team ran-sacking the base), it wasn't like Sasuke was learning anything anyway. He'd give the Snake-freak two days to change his charge's mind before he severed their relationship permanently.

Actually, that thought almost appealed to him enough to skip those two days right then and there, but Sasuke had learned patience in these last few years, and he'd never be stupid enough to run head-long into something like the Dobe did...

His mouth turned down ever so slightly at that. He preferred not to think of them at the moment for some strange reason that he couldn't quite place his thumb on.

Shaking the train of thought from his head, he reached for the door, only to practically crash into it as the world started spinning violently around him.

"What the...!" he started, but the world faded to darkness before he could even finish.

xXx

_16 years earlier_

The Uchiha clan buzzed with excitement as they bustled around the surprisingly pleasant day of July 23rd. The head of the clan was expecting his second child today, and few people were immune to the anticipation in some way.

In the cabin currently housing the main family, the mid-wife scurried around the room between the contractions, checking and re-checking to make sure she had everything she needed. The Uchihas had hired her for a hefty price after all. She knew most of them considered themselves too good to go to a common hospital like normal people (although the mid-wife had very little doubt that this particular woman would have minded so much—she seemed much nicer than the rest of the clan).

The contractions started again, pulling the mid-wife out of her thoughts, and she rushed over to the writhing woman. Then she checked again and smiled. It was time.

Twenty minutes later, she walked out of the room, carefully holding a tiny bundle in her arms. Fugaku Uchiha himself came running over immediately for news.

"She's fine. Only resting, but she should recover within the next few days easily," she in turn held out the little bundle with a smile on her face. "And here, is your son."

For an instant, Fugaku let his mask as the leader of the clan drop, and couldn't help the anticipation that brushed his sharp features. Firmly clamping down on his excitement, he looked down and into the face of his son as the child's eyes cracked open.

Immediately, the older Uchiha's features melted into shock. He'd never heard of an Uchiha who had eye-color different from dark brown or black, yet his son's eyes shone a deep, ocean blue.

* * *

There. Revamped so that I don't cringe every time I see it now. Doujinshi officially scrapped and I'm planning on revamping the second chapter so that it matches with the manga more.


	2. Night of the Kyuubi

_Kohona, October 10th; Night of the Kyuubi attack_

The night air hung heavy with the stench of death and smoke. A good chunk of Kohona now lay in shambles, and the area around the city was littered with the bodies of fallen ninja that had tried to protect their little village. 

Minato had taken all of this in in an instant, and as he now stood to face the Demon Fox, he tried not to think of his wife, trying desperately to push away the pain and shame. He didn't succeed. The feelings of betrayal to the woman he remembered by taking this course of action rushing clearly through his mind. 

But he knew he had no other viable choice. 

As he stood atop of Gamabunta and faced the giant demon now grinning cruelly and confidently over at him, he couldn't help but see her bright eyes and red hair instead; his one true love and now... He couldn't save her, but he could save everyone else in her place.

He almost choked at that. What kind of a thought had that been? Honestly! He knew if he really had a choice between her and the village, he'd be hard pressed to choose.

He looked away from the evil, red eyes and glanced down at the wrinkled form of his new-born son. Then again, he knew he'd already made his choice.

That's when the demon attacked. Gamabunta jumped out of the way, causing Minato to duck down, holding the precious bundle close to his chest. He heard the fox's deep chuckle, and knew the other was just toying with them.

"Stick with the plan!" he called out to the giant frog. That stroke could have easily killed them and just about anything within a half-mile radius if it would have hit, and the demon wasn't even at full strength. Minato knew just from what he'd observed earlier that this monster was dragging it out, enjoying every minute of suffering he could extract from the humans. That's probably why he hadn't destroyed the village to begin with.

The village.

With that thought, His resolve solidified, and in the blink of an eye, he flashed away from the battle scene. Not a second later, the blond-haired man appeared in the middle of the prepared area, noting the candles that had already been lit. He didn't have time to speculate by whom. Whoever it was, be it anyone from Kakashi to Jairya, had undoubtedly left the scene to help with the evacuation or the fighting.

As he lay his son down in the little nest that had been set up there, he couldn't help but bite his lip. As quickly as he could, he drew the seal in ink on the boy's stomach, then bent down and kissed him on his little, blond head.

"Forgive me," he said softly, and began the hand seals. He concentrated on them, making sure that each came in the proper order. The quiet child opened his eyes, for just a moment before the Yellow Flash of Kohona completed the hand seals and vanished, reappearing on top of Gamabunta's head.

"It's finished," he yelled down to the giant frog.

"About time," the Frog-boss grumbled. "You sure about this?" he asked as he jumped out of the way of yet another attack from the demon.

Minato didn't answer, choosing instead to remain quiet. Gamabunta knew the answer.

Finally, the blond-haired man took a deep breath, and began to channel the chakra that would complete the sealing.

He saved the town that night, and probably half the country if not the world...and in doing so, he condemned his son. As the lay on the battlefield looking up at the white, transparent and cruel figure of the Shinigami, he couldn't help but vaguely wonder why he now focused on the fact that while newborn children were supposed to be born with blue eyes, and he himself had bright blue eyes, his son's eyes had been a dark onyx. He coughed, tasting something metallic in his mouth, but seemed to be observing that and everything around him as if from a great distance.

They'd been so dark they were almost black. They didn't...even...match...Kushina's...

And he thought no more.

xXx

Sarotobi slowly looked up from the desk of the Hokage, not even trying to hide his tear-stained cheeks or swollen eyes, and let his pupils trail down the ANBU until it stopped on the figure's arm—the arm now holding the yellow-haired baby in front of him as if it were toxic. Why couldn't anyone else have found him? Why did it have to be this particular group of ANBU? Knowing them, they'd told half of the other ANBU, and that in turn would effect a good quarter of what was left of the village already. By the morning, he wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the village knew that the Demon Fox had been sealed inside an "orphan boy", found in the center of a cleared space in the ruins the fox had left behind.

The third was not an idiot. He knew what so many hurting people would think of this development, and there went any thought for this child to have a normal future. Not that a demon container could ever have a normal future to begin with.

"Very well," he said finally, his voice cracking slightly from his recent mourning. "Let me see him." The ANBU did as he/she was told, and gave the baby rather harshly to the older man. He moved the blanket out of the way of the surprisingly still child and looked at the seal on his stomach, which was already beginning to fade. The whisker marks on his face, however, only seemed to become more prominent as the seal vanished.

Well, at least he knew the Fourth had accomplished what he'd designed the seal to do. Apparently the Kyuubi had been trapped inside this infant.

The problem was, with his lack of mastery over seals, he didn't know whether this would turn out to be something positive or not...for anyone.

Suppressing a sigh, he turned to the ANBU. "Tell no one of this. You are dismissed to help search the rubble on the outskirts of town."

Without so much as uttering a word, the masked figure nodded, and vanished.

Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in the chair he'd so recently given up to his successor. He knew what would happen here too. No one else in the village had the skill level to become Hokage, so he would have to take up the position again. That meant he couldn't raise the child, but he would not put the Fourth's son into an orphanage.

None of his Children were ready or old enough to take on the burden of a child (those that had survived...oh how he wished he didn't have to think about that at the moment), and he wasn't about to ruin two lives by forcing something like this onto them. Not to mention, considering the situation, he doubted anyone else in the village would take the boy now.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to massage away the migraine threatening to force itself upon his poor brain. They'd long-since found the Fourth's body, but they had yet to find Kushina among the wounded ninja and the dead...but he had little hope. She wasn't the kind of person to just leave her son if she could. She'd rather die first...

He pushed that thought away. Maybe he wouldn't have to think about orphanages and raising the boy. Maybe...but he knew he'd begun to grasp at straws.

He felt his hands clench. What had she been doing out there anyway? Eight and a half months pregnant did not mean you went chasing after your husband, and it did not mean defending the village. She had no excuse to be out there! No matter how good of a ninja, a very pregnant woman did not do well in battle, usually ending up as a burden to those who fought around her...and she knew that.

He pounded his fist on the table, muttering a few choice words under his breath. He noticed the bundle in his arms jumped at the loud sound, and looked down at the boy. The little thing looked just like his father, with the exception of those black eyes...had to be from Kushina's lineage, unless there was something about Minato's own heritage that he didn't know (which, considering how new hidden villages were, was not unlikely).

"Oh, little one," he said sadly, feeling tears come to his eyes again. The "rule" that Ninja were supposed to bury their feelings could burn for all he cared at the moment. "What a life you have ahead of you. I am so very sorry."

xXx

Neither the blue-eyed or the black-eyed baby knew anything about what was going on around them, both being too new to really understand anything.

All the blue-eyed Uchiha knew was that at this moment, while huddled in this dark place away from the scary noises and harsh shaking, his mother was that not happy. Still, as they sat in the dim light from a candle or justu being held by one of the others who had sought shelter here in some corner of the room, he could tell in a vague, but unique way that he was safe because of her...and he liked that. With that vague thought, he snuggled against her warmth, and fell asleep.

The dark-eyed Uzumaki only knew fatigue and pain at this point. The sealing of a demon is not a pleasant experience, for either the demon or the container. All he could really tell, was the person he was looking up at had awoken him. He felt the man's gentle touch, though, and found himself quickly falling back into asleep again, resting from the ordeal he'd just come through, completely unaware of the man's thoughts and sadness.


	3. October 10th

"How are you doing, Naruto?" the Sandaime poked his head in the door of a room on one of the lower floors of the Hokage Tower guarded by ANBU. The three-year-old blinked and looked up from the new toys he'd been playing with (a crude, little wooden figure and a little wooden wagon Sandaime had bought for the boy himself). As he had predicted, the reinstated head-of-the village had precious little time for anything outside of work these days, which unfortunately included Naruto. Actually, he hardly had time to get most of his actual work done (something that hadn't changed from his days as the head of Kohona). As such, he usually paid a rather hefty price to give ANBU the mission of guarding and/or raising Naruto, passing it onto the less expensive Genin teams whenever he felt he could. He hated this set-up. No child should have to be raised with so many different teams and people (most of whom hated him like nothing else) tending to his needs only when they knew they couldn't get away with not doing so. No one ever seemed to want to give the child any real love.

Still, it was better than the alternative. He wasn't sure the boy would have survived in normal care of the state treatment. That's why he never could, in good conscience, leave Naruto in an orphanage or foster care. He would not stand by and watch as Naruto got tortured, beaten or killed because the people of the town the Forth was trying to protect killed his own son in a drunken rage.

Fortunately, though, that rarely happened outside of festivals. Usually he could let Naruto out during the day, sometimes alone, otherwise watched by a team or an ANBU, which allowed him to roam rather freely (as long as he didn't go into any shops). On top of that, the petitions for his death had begun to lessen over these last few years. Sandaime had no doubt that by the time the boy entered the academy (which was going to happen whether the council liked it or not), he could help him get his own apartment.

All of this passed through his head in seconds as the boy recognized who had come to visit him (few people did out of their own volition) while the noises of the mini festival in the town below drifted around the old building.

Today also happened to be the boy's birthday. Three years ago, this night, Minato Nazamaki beat the Kyuubi.

"San'me-san," the three-year-old said, standing respectfully at the entrance of Sarotoubi.

"Well?" The third couldn't help but grin at this surprisingly polite child, and walked into the room. "Aren't you going to thank me for your birthday gift?"

Naruto looked down at the wooden car he'd been playing with and then looked back up and bowed somewhat awkwardly. "Fank you, San'me-san," he said hastily in his broken toddler-speak. The older man studied the younger. This boy seemed very mature for his age, which actually saddened Sandaime. Children should be kept as innocent as they could be for as long as possible. He firmly believed in starting the actual worrying of life later on so the stress didn't accumulate as quickly, and the person had healthy memories to fall back on.

He doubted that would happen with Naruto.

"You're more than welcome, Naruto-chan," the older man pasted a large grin on his face and reached out to ruffle the boy's unruly hair.

"Can I go ou'side today?" the young blond looked up with hopeful eyes.

Sandaime sighed and looked out at the darkening sky. "I'm afraid not," he said. The later it got, the more dangerous it became for Naruto to be outside this night. "How about tomorrow?" he asked when Naruto's dark eyes fell. The toddler didn't respond, instead sitting back down and focusing on his new present.

"Oh," Sandaime grinned, "and I have one more gift for you." He pulled out a small bundle, and unwrapped it in front Naruto, showing him the very first set of kunai the toddler had ever had. Naruto simply stared at it for a moment with an unreadable expression before looking up questioningly at the older man.

"It's a set of kunai," he set the knives and their holders down before the boy. "Don't take them out without me here," he warned. "You could hurt yourself with these, especially," he reached down, gently slid one out of it's pocket, and held it out for Naruto to inspect and pointed to the sharp edges, "with this end." He turned the kunai so that he held the sharp end, and raised it up so the boy could see. "You're supposed to give them to other people like this, so they don't get hurt, okay?"

The black-eyed boy looked up questioningly, then very slowly reached for the handle. He took it carefully, as if handling something fragile, and Sandaime smiled.

"The next time I come by, I'll show you how to throw them, okay?" The slight look of wonderment melted back into curiosity on the boys face, and the gray-haired man picked up on the unspoken question. "Learning to throw these is the first step to becoming a ninja. You do want to become a ninja, right?"

He'd expected excitement from the boy, or at least a smile of some sort. Somehow, it just seemed right coming from that face that looked so much like the Yondaime's...but he found himself disappointed when the boy looked back down at the knife, and shrugged.

"Why wouldn't you want to become a ninja?" Saroutobi found himself asking.

"What do nin'as do?" came the soft reply.

Sandaime frowned slightly. Had everyone really been that neglectful of him that he didn't even have this rudimentary knowledge? "Well, they protect people," he said after a minute. "They become strong so that no one can hurt them and those close to them."

At this point he watched the little hand reach over and awkwardly try to put the kunai back from where the Sandaime had pulled it from.

"Who woul' I pro'ect?" the boy asked softly, and went back to his little toy. For the first time in years, the great ninja found himself actually surprised...and from a little boy none the less.

"Well, what about me?" he finally responded. Naruto paused and looked back at him. "Do you care about me?"

He actually found himself slightly hurt when the boy paused and thought before answering. Then the blond looked back, with a small smile gracing his lips. "Yeah."

"So," Sandamei smiled down, "why don't you become a ninja to protect yourself, and me." He reached over and pointed at the boys chest. Naruto looked down, and then back up, but to Saroutobi's surprise, the smile had disappeared. Then he nodded, and silently went back to his little toy.

The Hokage felt his heart fall. Anything he'd inherited from either Minato or Kushina personality wise had already seemed to have been utterly crushed. What was he supposed to do about that?

"Hokage, sir," a voice at the door caused him to turn around and address the man he'd known had been standing there. "Lady Titsuoki from the Council requests an audience."

Sandaime sighed and stood up. "Happy Birthday, Naruto," he said softly before turning and walking out the door. He'd have to think of a remedy to the boy's situation...and remedy it he would.

xXx

"I cannot believe that boy," Makoto stared in wonder as her youngest child played gleefully with a few other children around his age in a little area set off for exactly that purpose while their parents celebrated. "He has no end to his energy."

"Isn't that a good thing for your family?" one of the other women at the table asked as she looked onto her own child trying to keep up with the dark-haired, blue-eyed boy.

Makoto shrugged. "Mostly Uchihas are expected to uphold the laws and act accordingy...even our children." She looked over at the dark-haired woman who sat across from her. It wasn't often she had company to talk to outside of the clan, and she liked to take the chance whenever she could...not that she didn't like or respect the other Uchihas, but sometimes she just wanted to be apart of the actual village, not just a clan inside village.

"Really?" the woman, Mokoto recalled her name had being Yuzu, or something like that, asked. "How do you handle it?"

Mokoto shrugged and glanced around at the festival. "I handle it because I have two boys I have to raise, and their love means everything to me." She sighed and looked back at Sasuke, a contented smile crossing her face. "It can get me through anything, even the most drab or stressful of days."

Yuzu laughed. "Well, I guess I can understand you there." With that, she picked up the cup that had been before her, and raised it. "To our children!"

Mokoto couldn't help but smile back and raised her own cup. "To our children," she agreed.

"And to the downfall of the Kyuubi!" someone else called out, apparently having heard their toast. Anyone who heard that suddenly lifted their glasses in a roar of approval. Quickly, Mokoto raised her own glass a second time and then took another sip, only recalling how thankful she'd been that all of her immediate family had survived the attack three years ago.

As the festival continued on around her, she watched as her youngest son ran circles around most of the other children there, while all of the parents looked on, losing their worries in the happiness that surrounded festivals.

She even forgot her worry about the next day, and the fact that Fugaku had told her he would start training Sasuke in ninja arts then. She couldn't really complain, as he'd started Itachi at an even younger age (before his third birthday), but for some reason, she felt particularly uneasy about her youngest boy's training to be a ninja.

Still, that was the lot of an Uchiha mother, and it would be interesting to see if Fugaku could keep up with Sasuke and all of his boundless energy...

Her smile grew larger as the festival continued on around her.

xXx

Hmm, thought I'd posted this chapter already. -Shrug- Oh well. Hope you enjoyed.


	4. Meeting

Thanks again for the reviews! Here's another chapter, seeing as this story is coming along nicely, and I'm kind of stuck in my other stories...

xXx

A black-haired six-year-old grinned widely as he looked ahead at the gate of the Uchiha compound, and then down to the left of that, where a thin, loose board hung imperceptibly with the rest of the fence. It had only been a few days since he'd found said loose board completely by accident after being turned away from the main gate. Anyone who saw him approach the gate never let him pass, saying that it was too dangerous outside. They didn't realize that his five-year-old mind had only taken it as a challenge to overcome. He'd found the solution, and all he needed to do was make sure that no one saw him leave. If this were the Hyuuga compound, it would be practically impossible. In the Uchiha compound it was just highly improbable.

He glanced around, looking hard for anyone passing by, but saw nobody in sight. His grin widened (if that were even possible), and he dashed to the fence, flattening himself against it, like his father had taught him. Doing this made it harder for people to see him, especially in the dark clothes he wore. Everything seemed dark to him inside the compound, so even in daylight he found the clothes his father and mother liked to buy for him useful.

Still, he couldn't wait for his new outfits to come. It had taken him forever to convince his mother to buy them, and in the end they'd both had to give, but he was happy with the outcome. For the longest time, he'd desperately wanted something much brighter and happier. Like orange. Orange was a good color. Yellow too.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, he felt around carefully for the loose piece of wood. It took him a moment to find it, but find it he did. Then, with one last look around, he took a deep breath and ducked outside for his first time outside of the Uchiha compound alone.

As soon as he found himself on the street outside the fence, he took off running hoping that no one would come down the street at this time of day. Right now, all he felt was the need for freedom. He hated the stuffiness he felt at his house (not that he hated his home or anything, he just didn't like how everyone expected him to stand still like a good little boy when all he wanted to do was play), so he escaped as often as he could. Unfortunately the extensive back-yard had eventually become old news. He got to where knew every stone, tree, leaf and...well every _thing_ there, so the ability to "ditch" as Itachi called it, quickly lost its appeal unless he could get further away. More than once, he'd been brought home by one Uchiha or another that found him wandering around their home, but even that had grown old. That's when he'd tried to leave through the gate and been turned away...and he knew this would prove his best escape yet.

He turned the corner, but didn't stop running, instead forcing his small body to continue towards the park he knew was only a few blocks away, relishing the wind in his face and the blood pumping through his veins.

"Yatta!" he yelled, jumping into the air, with one fist raised above his head. No more rules, and no more expectations...at least not for now. He knew he'd have to go back to it, but he didn't mind it so much after a little while on his own. Besides, he couldn't imagine his life without his family. He loved them, really. He just hated how uptight they always seemed to be...not that his five-year-old mind really knew that. All he really consciously knew, was that he liked getting away, and would do so whenever he could, but that he'd always go home again.

He didn't stop pumping his legs until he reached the park. As soon as his feet touched on the grass, he skid to a halt, bending down and taking deep breaths to recover from his little run. He liked the feeling he got when he ran, so maybe he would do it more often, even if it did hurt a little when he ran too far. His father always told him that hurting would only make him stronger, and that was the ultimate goal of an Uchiha. He didn't mind that rule so much, and did want to become strong like Itachi, so he resolved he would do that more often...when he felt like it.

After several seconds, he looked up, expecting the park to have kids running all around like it usually did when his mother brought him here (which wasn't often because his father didn't like it. Something about mixing with commoners, whatever that meant). Instead, he found it practically deserted.

The only figure he could see, happened to be a blond-haired boy in an over-large, old t-shirt and shoes sitting on the swings. Sasuke took another look around, making sure that he hadn't missed anyone, before shrugging and running up to the boy.

"Hi!" he grinned and jumped to a stop in front of the boy's swing. He stood there for a few seconds as the boy slowly looked up at him, revealing dark, almost black eyes. Sasuke blinked taken back slightly. He'd only ever seen eyes like that from other Uchihas. Maybe this boy was related, or something (although he didn't know of many people in his family with that color of hair). Apparently his expression didn't go unnoticed for the bond's look of indifference melted into one of annoyance, and he turned away again. Undaunted, Sasuke grabbed the next swing over, his usual grin taking over. "I'm Sasuke. What's your name?" he asked.

The boy grunted.

"What was that?" Sasuke leaned closer, his blue eyes fixed on the mouth to make sure he'd said anything at all.

"Naruto," the boy grumbled.

Sasuke's face broke into a huge smile. "No way!" he grinned. "That's the best name ever!"

"No it's not," Naruto replied in the same tone he'd spoken in before...one that plainly said "leave me alone!".

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, starting to pump his legs in unison, starting the swinging motiong back and forth. He wished his mother was there to push him. "It's a raman name! That is so awesome! I wish I had a name like that."

The boy grunted again, something that sounded suspiciously like "no you don't".

"Why not?" Sasuke stopped pumping and looked at the other boy while the swing slowly settled down.

"Because everyone hates me."

Sasuke felt his eyes widen in surprise again at that.

"Why does everyone hate you?" he asked.

"I don't know," if Naruto had sounded annoyed before, he sounded nothing short of angry right now. "Go away!"

Sasuke stuck his nose in the air and started moving his legs again. "Anyone can go to this park. My mommy told me."

"Your mommy won't want you around me," Naruto said. Sasuke couldn't help but look over at the other boy. His tone said "matter of fact" instead of sounding harsh at all. He'd been expecting him to say something just to want him gone.

Sasuke shook his head and continued to push himself higher on the swing. "Why not?" he asked.

"No one ever wants to be around me."

Sasuke paused for a moment before shrugging. "Well, my dad doesn't want me to come here either, but here I am!" He held his arms out as he shouted it, forgetting entirely that he was currently on a swing. His eyes flew wide as the momentum passed onto him, causing him to fall backwards off of the hard wood that had kept him in the air. In panic, he groped as if in slow motion for the safety of the chain, but found he could not reach it.

'When falling, use the momentum,' his father's words came back to him almost instantly. 'Tuck your legs in, and use the fall. Turn it into something that can help you.' As quickly as he could, he thrust his legs out of the swing, and tucked them in, preparing to land in the sand. Unfortunately, the ground had been closer than he realized, and his knees met the sand below the swings hard. He bit back a cry as he continued to fall down onto his hands. That had hurt...a lot.

He sat there a second, willing his leg to not be hurt, then slowly backed off to look at them. His knees had been scratched up nicely, and even started bleeding in some places.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Sasuke looked up to see the blond standing over him, looking down curiously.

"Learn to do what?" Sasuke asked with a frown, his mood suddenly much more sour than it had been.

"Turn in the air like that?"

Sasuke glanced back at the still erratically swinging chains, then back at Naruto. "My dad taught me."

The boy's face immediately fell. "Oh," he said and started to turn away. Something in that tone of voice struck Sasuke, and he found himself fighting to gain his feet, despite his still painful knees and shins.

"Wait!" he said. Naruto stopped and turned to look behind him. "Want to meet me here tomorrow?" he asked.

Naruto regarded him for a moment. "Your mommy will get mad," he said.

Sasuke shrugged. "So?"

Naruto continued to regard him for several seconds, then turned away. "Okay," he said.

"Yatta!" Sasuke yelled, then winced as he put weight onto his legs. He knew he should get home and fix this up so no one asked any questions later. "See you tomorrow!" he grinned and began jogging (rather painfully) towards his home.

"Weirdo," Naruto muttered, shaking his head and turning to walk back to the tower. Still, as he did so, he couldn't help but let a small smile touch his lips. Someone had acknowledged him...someone other than the Sandaime. And to make it better, he didn't hate Naruto.

This was new territory to the blond...and even he couldn't suppress the little, warm feeling that bubbled in his chest.


	5. The Uneasy question

Alright, here's the deal: I need a beta reader. I'm not looking for anything extensive, just someone to point out awkward wordings, spelling mistakes I might have missed, and maybe to bounce ideas off of once in a while. I'm looking for one for this Naruto fic, one for my Bleach fic, and one for my Fullmetal Alchemist Fic. If you're interested, let me know. Send me a message or try to reach me at my e-mail. Thanx! Enjoy!

xXx

Naruto was not dumb. The thing that scared most people, was they knew it. They'd always find him too quiet, or too serious, and thus several people were more than a little uneasy around him.

He didn't mind that at all. Actually, he did everything he could to encourage it. He liked to wear dark clothing, and had long since perfected his glare. It got to a point where there were very few people who weren't jounin who could tolerate being around him...and even then the high-ranking ninjas always glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes, and he could feel their worry.

Still, he didn't know why, and it had started to bother him...a lot. Finally, he'd had enough. He didn't mind being alone. Actually, it suited him just fine, but he wanted to know why. Mostly, he decided as he walked down the hall from his bedroom, he wanted to know why he could never seem to get anything decent from the stores that didn't chase him out on sight, and why they always charged him more than anyone else.

"Hokage-sama," he said solemnly, walking through the double doors to the Hokage's office as the Sandaime had told him to do if he ever needed anything. The old man looked up from the mound of paper he'd been going through on his desk and smiled.

"Naruto," he said as if the boy had been a great relief, and set his pen down. "Come in. What can I do for you?"

The blond nodded and closed the doors. Then he turned, standing rather sternly, which set alarms off in the Hokage's head immediately. Naruto always seemed particularly distant, but he usually relaxed somewhat when it was just himself and the Hokage in the room.

"Hokage-sama," he repeted, "could you please tell me why everyone in the town hates me?" Naruto had learned long ago that the Sandaime responded better to direct questions than he did to dropped hints, even blatant ones.

He stood there while the smile on the man's face vanished, and he looked around nervously. "What makes you think that everyone hates you?" he said cautiously after a pause.

"I can handle the truth," Naruto insisted. Judging from his reaction, the Hokage knew exactly what was going on. If he would have been a little more experienced, he would have realized that the Hokage didn't give anything away that he didn't plan on giving out to begin with when it came to information, and therefore Sarutobi had indeed intended to tell the boy...just not this soon.

He sat there, regarding the blond-haired boy with an unreadable expression, weighing his options. Finally, he sighed and leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk.

"Very well," he said. "Do you know of the attack of the nine-tailed fox on Kohona six years ago last month?"

Naruto tried unsuccessfully not to look surprised. He had not been expecting that...although he hadn't really known what to expect. He'd once thought that maybe he was hated because of who his parents had been, but nothing else had occurred to his six-year-old mind.

"Yes, sir," he replied, recovering from his shock as it melted into curiosity. He'd always wondered why the day Kyuubi got defeated and his birthday fell on the same day, but again, nothing resembling an answer had ever really occurred to him, mostly because he hadn't actually thought about it.

"Well," Sarutobi sighed. No turning back now. "Do you know how the Kyuubi was defeated?" Naruto's curious expression deepened. He'd always imagined some sort of amazing jutsu or a giant spear or something like that. No one had actually told him, so he shook his head, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Good," the Sandaime said, standing up. Again Naruto was taken by surprise. Why was that a good thing? "You see," the Hokage continued as he began to pace the length of his room, "if anyone had told you, I'd have to punish them severely, because there is a law against discussing it."

Naruto blinked. "Why, Hokage sir?"

Sarutobi sighed again,"Because demons can't be killed." Naruto's confused expression was all he needed to continue. "At least not by mortals like you and me," he gestured to the boy, and continued pacing.

"So...how did Yodaime-san defeat him?"

Well, here went nothing. "He performed a special jutsu," Sarutobi's voice quieted down at the memory out of respect and reverence, "to seal the demon into a human. A baby was chosen because only that would ensure the demon remained sealed. Only the undeveloped chakra coils could ever truly hope to adapt to such an immense power."

Silence fell over the room for several seconds as the boy absorbed this information.

"I was born on that day," he said quietly. "That baby was me."

Sandaime sighed slightly impressed at the child's deductive reasoning, even at this age. "Yes, Naruto. That baby was you."

Instinctively, the boy put a hand on his chest and rubbed it absently. "So...I'm a demon?" he asked quietly.

"Oh no," Sarutobi walked forward. "No, no," he repeted and knelt before the black-eyed child. "Don't ever think that! You are the captor, the jailer, the one person who has kept the entire town from being destroyed by that monster." He reached up and put his hands on the boys shoulders. "Naruto, you are a hero."

Naruto looked down, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Why does everyone hate me then?" he asked for the second time.

At this, the grandfather of only a few years years couldn't help but gather the boy into his arms, hugging him close and allowing his tears to soak into his robe as he would his own granchild. "Because they don't understand," he said softly. "When they see you, they see a monster. They're wrong, but that's how they look at it. They're people who have been hurt. They're scared of the power that lies within you because it has taken so many loved ones from them."

It took several seconds for that one to sink into the child's head as well. When it did, his eyes widened in realization. "Then...I'm powerful?"

That had Sarutobi's blood run cold. This had been the exact reason why he hadn't wanted Naruto told. For a minute, he wondered if he'd been wise to tell the child, but quickly shook the thought from his head. What was done was done. He just had to explain...yes, that was it.

"Naruto, listen to me," he gently pushed the boy out until he was looking directly in the old-man's eyes. "That power cannot be controlled...and that's if you can even access it."

"Access it?" Naruto tipped his head to the side, questioning.

"It means if you can touch it, reach it, or use it at all," the Hokage explained patiently.

"Oh," the boy nodded, signifying he'd understood.

Sarutobi continued. "That power is evil, and it destroys everything it touches. Promise me that you will not go seeking for it."

Naruto's face fell, then he nodded.

"Say it, please," the Hokage said gently, but firmly and with no room for argument.

"I promise," Naruto said quietly.

At that, Sarutobi smiled and ruffled the boys hair. "That's my boy," he said with a grin. "How about I treat you to something?"

Naruto smiled and politely nodded, although he felt like sighing. The only place that allowed him to eat in the town was Ichiraku's...and he hated Ramen.

xXx

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out to the boy on the swing. The blond on the swing looked up, blinking. After talking to the Hokage, he'd come right to the park, as it seemed to be his favorite place to just think or sit. He'd forgotten yet again about that annoying, black-haired Sasuke.

He watched with a slightly annoyed expression as the boy ran up to him, and stopped, dropping a bag on the ground in front of him with a grin.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What are you wearing?" he asked skeptically as he eyed the boy before him. Naruto looked down at the new clothes he'd gotten...in bright yellow and orange. An orange jacket with black trimming and light yellow shorts, also outlined in black. He wore his normal black, toe-less shoes to complete the ensemble.

"What?" he asked. "I like it, and it took me forever to convince mom to buy it for me. I picked them out for my birthday, and it took them a little while to get it to me because they had to sew or clan's symbol onto it after they made it."

"Oh," Naruto blinked. What was it like to get new clothes, or to go shopping with a mother? When he realized where his thoughts were going, he shook them off and nodded towards the fairly large bag Sasuke had brought with him. "What's in there?" he asked, conveniently distracting both himself and Sasuke from the current conversation.

"Clothes!" Sasuke grinned and reached into the thing, pulling out what looked like a black jacket with a white and red fan on the back. "I was gonna get rid of all of these, and thought before I did that you might be able to use them."

Naruto shook his head and went back to staring at the sand they'd put beneath the swings. "I don't need charity," he grumbled.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Well, like I said, I was gonna get rid of them anyway," he tied the bag back up. "Whatever you don't use take to the charity store or the orphanage, K?" With that he turned and began to jog away.

"Where are you going?" Naruto heard himself ask, wondering why he was doing so. He'd been doing things like that a lot today. Crying over things that didn't really mean anything to him, talking out when he normally would have just let whatever be.

"Oh, Sorry!" Sasuke turned around with a regretful look. "Mom doesn't know I'm gone, again, but she'll be looking for me soon so I gotta go back! But I should be able to come tomorrow, K? Later!" With that, he turned around and took off in the other direction again, leaving Naruto with a bag of clothes in front of him.

He turned his dark eyes to the bag, and couldn't help but sigh. Seriously, what was that boy thinking, that he couldn't take care of himself? Then he looked down at the over-sized, stained t-shirt that he usually wore. Sandaime had given it to him for his last birthday, saying that it was large enough for him to grow into. It was one of the few shirts he actually owned. Then again, he'd never given much thought to his appearance, except that he didn't like to be seen, so he liked dark colors (Sandaime had actually dyed this shirt for him upon his request). It couldn't hurt to look through those clothes, right?

With a shrug, he hefted the thing over his shoulders and began trudging back towards the tower, making sure to look several directions so as to make sure no one accused him of stealing. That had happened with some of Sasuke's hand-me-down 'gifts' before. It seemed whenever the boy had anything he didn't heed, he'd give it to Naruto instead. He'd gotten a few blankets, old scrolls and toys that way, as well as some weapons that just needed sharpening but were otherwise perfectly good.

He wondered just how Sasuke would react to knowing Naruto was a demon container. After a few seconds pause, he decided he wouldn't tell him unless Sasuke asked him directly. It's not like it was any of his business anyway...right?

xXx

Sasuke sat near the front gate, watching intently, kunai in hand. He sat surprisingly still considering his normal amount of energy and attention span. This feat became even more impressive with the knowledge that he'd been sitting there for almost ten minutes.

Yes...today would be the day. He glanced almost imperceptibly down at his watch, and made sure for about the 20th time that he could not be seen, even in the bright colors he was now dressed in, before turning his attention back to the gate. He would wait here as long as it took, because today would be the day...it would be...

The seconds ticked by like minutes, and all of the world seemed to mock him. His body practically begged him to move and never stay that still again, but he ignored the impulses, still staring and fixing his eyes intently on the gate.

Finally, a figure appeared at the entrance and walked inside the Uchiha compound, stretching slightly and looking slightly relieved at being home. Sasuke grinned and held his breath. He had to wait for the right moment...just the right...NOW!

With that, he sprung from his hiding place behind a pillar and some bushes, kunai flashing as he sped towards his target. Yes! He was going to get him! Today he would--

Then, he felt the other's arm catch his inches away from piercing the skin. In seconds, he found himself flat on the ground under someone's knee and looking up surprised and annoyed at a familiar face.

"Good job hiding, Sasuke," he said, "but you really need to work on your speed if you ever want to take someone by surprise who has any training at all."

Sasuke frowned. "Nii-san, how can I get better if you won't teach me?"

Itachi Uchiha stood up, and shrugged. "Maybe father can--"

"He says that too!" Sasuke pouted slightly as he got to his knees. "'Maybe Itachi can teach you'. Why, nii-san?"

Itachi turned around, a smile on his face. He leaned forward, and then reached out and poked Sasuke on the forehead.

"Ow!" Sasuke reached a hand up and rubbed the offending place while staring stubbornly up at his older brother.

"Maybe tomorrow."

Sasuke sighed and watched Itachi turn away, walking back towards their house. "But you always say that," he humphed and crossed his arms over his chest in a sulk for a few seconds. Before Itachi disappeared, he turned towards his retreating back, holding his kunai in front of him.

"I will get good whether you teach me or not!" he yelled out, and with that, he turned and walked towards the Uchiha training grounds, a look of determination crossing his face.

Itachi continued on, having heard his little brother's yell, and smiled. He knew that Sasuke had just as much potential has he did. His mind, while seemingly dull in several areas dealing with sociology (mostly reading people and reacting to them and manipulating them), with other areas, he was surprisingly sharp, and had an amazing amount of stamina for his age as well as a will of iron.

"Itachi!" someone calling his name drew him out of his thoughts, and he turned around calmly. Not only had he known someone was there, he easily recognized the voice and the presence.

Before he'd even caught sight of the man, he bowed slightly in greeting. "Shisui-san."


	6. High and Dry

Okay, I think I have a beta reader for all my stories, so let's see how this works out. Thanks to Escalus for beta-ing this! Please enjoy, and please respond! Let me know how I'm doing! I love constructive criticizm.

xXx

Naruto stepped out of the group shower in the ANBU headquarters, an old, hole-filled towel wrapped firmly around his small frame. This had always been his bathroom as it happened to be the closest full bathroom to his room (apparently rooms in the Hokage tower weren't meant to actually be lived in). He'd asked the Hokage once why the facility was even there, and had been explained to that sometimes ANBU needed a place to relax and clean off when on extended missions that required them to not leave the Hokage tower for one reason or another. Truthfully, most ninjas could just as easily go to their house and shower there just as quickly, so the facility rarely got used, which was just how Naruto liked it. He usually took showers about every other day (the Hokage had told him that remaining clean was part of ninja training, because some ninja had excellent noses, and the cleaner the ninja, the less easy it was for some people to smell them out), although that would probably change as he got older and his body matured.

His hair stood in all directions, as he'd only taken a towel to it, but he didn't mind. He usually left it like that just because it was easier that way. He saw that some kids (especially girls) that always had their hair done up in intricate or complicated-looking styles. He could never really understand why.

He walked over to the clothes he'd left draped over a bench, and shoved them on. Boxers followed by shorts, shoes and then he hung the towel over his shoulder, and grabbed his shirt. He'd put it on in the halls or something. For some reason, this place being such a large bathroom and always empty kind of creeped him out (not that he'd ever admit that).

He began walking out of the bathroom, but caught his image in the de-fogging mirror right next to the showers, and paused. Slowly, he walked up to the cold glass and began to inspect his face, mainly the whisker marks. Apparently every bijuu (that's what the Sandaime had called demons like the Kyuubi) had some sort of mark that appeared on their conainer due to the mixing of demon and human chakra. The Hokage hadn't known what all of the marks were, but had said that Naruto's whiskers were indeed just that: the mark of a Jinchuuriki. The only other bijuu mark the older man had known about was the seven-tailed badger, having actually met that one on one of his missions a few decades back. He'd had strangely colored hair, with stripes of black and white along with his normal hair color.

For the life of him, Naruto couldn't figure out why the nine-tailed fox would have whisker marks instead of something like strangely-colored eyes or pointed ears. Then again, it wasn't like they chose what their mark on a human container would be. He figured they liked the situation about as much as he did. Sarutobi-san had told him that if they had another way to contain or kill the demons, they'd do it, but to this day no one had come up with a better option. Few that experimented lived long enough to learn from their mistakes.

That made Naruto wonder how they'd come up with this solution in the first place, and he shuddered.

Then he looked down at his chest and stomach. Naruto had actually asked if the whiskers were his seal at one time (the question that had spurred the entire conversation actually). Sandaime had had a rather long laugh at that, and then explained that the seal had been on his stomach. Naruto had asked where it went, to which the old man had shrugged and stated he wasn't a seal expert. The seal had to still be there, or the fox would get loose, but for some reason it had faded almost immediately after the sealing. Naruto didn't even know what it looked like.

He tried as much as he could to see even the faintest outlines of said seal, inspecting his skin as closely as he could, but found nothing at all. Slightly disappointed, he turned his attention to his scrawny arms and started to examine those. He'd definitely have to get stronger if he wanted to become the best ninja. Maybe he could ask Sandaime how. He'd mentioned something about how some children were trained by their parents before they entered the academy. When he'd heard that, Naruto had asked if he could be trained. Sarutobi had told him that he didn't have a lot of time on his hands, and that he didn't really need the training before the academy, but had offered to show him how to mold chakra.

That had lead into a whole other discussion about what chakra was and how it could be used. Naruto still didn't quite get it, but he had learned at least basically how to mold chakra...although he couldn't do much with it at the moment.

He practiced every night, just molding the energy of his life force. It always seemed to come easily, like there was no end to it. He wondered if everyone was like that, or just him. Sandaime had also told him that if he looked closely, every chakra had a color to it. As Naruto looked into the mirror, he decided he wanted to know what color his was, and assumed a stance, forming the ram seal as the old man had taught him to, and began concentrating.

After a few minutes he peeked at the mirror, looking hard for a color. Sure enough, he could vaguely see a blue-ish outline...but it wasn't too easy to spot.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated harder, and then opened them again, studying himself for a second time and looking for that blue outline.

That's when he saw the seal. On his stomach, a spiral mark had appeared in black, as if someone had taken ink and drawn on him when he wasn't looking. His eyes flew wide with surprise, and almost immediately he lost concentration. His hands shot to his stomach as he stopped channeling. As soon as he did, the entire thing just vanished as if it had never been there at all.

He made the connection in his mind, and began to channel his chakra again. Surely enough, the seal appeared again. Making sure to continue the channeling, he studied the seal as best he could without losing concentration. A spiral, just like the Konoha's leaf signature in the center of what looked like random markings shooting off like rays from a sun or something.

'I wonder why,' he thought to himself.

Just then, an ANBU came into the room. Normally when someone entered when he happened to be there, they'd look over at him, and then ignore him completely. This time however, apparently the seal hadn't gone unnoticed. The person immediately took a step back, gasping heavily. Immediately, Naruto stopped channeling, and the two faced off for several seconds before Naruto grabbed his shirt (which had fallen on the ground) and ran out of the room.

He didn't stop until he got back to his own living area, and shut the door behind him. He threw the towel and shirt on his bed, and then his eyes fell on the bag of clothes Sasuke had given him.

That and the ANBU's reaction caused him to pause for a moment. He liked to be alone after all. The more other people left him alone the better, because that was preferable to everyone yelling at him, calling him "demon" or "monster" and often throwing things to chase him away. Lately, if he just glared at them, more often than not they left him alone. Still, there were those few who liked to gang up on him even now... Suddenly, it occurred to him. All he had to do to keep even those guys away was kick the "scariness" up a notch.

Smiling, he shoved his shirt over his head and went to ask the Hokage for a pair of scissors.

Besides, he couldn't walk around with the Uchiha sign on his back or front, now could he?

xXx

"Then it is settled," Sarutobi nodded and made to stand. "I will have someone begin searching for a suitable apartment for the boy." Murmurs of agreement came from all over the room. It had taken Sarutobi by surprise how little persuasion he'd needed to obtain the council's approval. That worried him a great deal, so he decided to leave them with one final warning.

"And if anything happens to Uzumaki Naruto, I will personally hunt down the ninja responsible and kill them." At that, the room fell into utter silence. A few were looking at him with approval (like Danzou...did miracles never cease?), but most stared blankly at his still firm, if somewhat old, figure.

"Have a good night," he bowed politely and left before anyone could say anything else.

xXx

"You're wearing them!?" Sasuke yelled with a huge grin crossing his face as he slowed down, approaching Naruto (who looked entirely too pleased with himself) on his swing.

Naruto looked down at his newly altered clothing. He'd spent most of the previous evening cutting the clothes up or drawing on them in permanent ink.

Mostly, he'd use some material he'd cut and sew it half-hazardly onto the material over the Uchiha's fan. Then, the Sandaime had come in and asked what he was doing. Naruto told him he wanted his own symbol on the new clothes, and Sarutobi had readily agreed, although he had looked a tad uneasy.

He'd forbidden Naruto from wearing a few of the shirts he'd already cut short to show his belly to scare off the villagers with the seal, saying it would do more harm than good, then he'd offered to help. After several minutes of trying to figure out what to do, the old man taken the clothes and said that he'd return them as soon as possible, already altered with the symbol Naruto wanted on them: the seal. Sandaime had not been happy about that, but Naruto insisted, saying it was a part of himself, and he'd rather show it than hide it. Reluctantly, Sandaime had agreed, but with some slight altercations. Now,more or less, he had a blue shirt on with a Kohona leaf in the back (except

without the little triangle and stem).

After thanking him, Naruto had taken at least half of them and added what looked, at least a little, like the outside of the seal in a light-coloured paint. Some of them couldn't be seen very well, and most of them looked like a six-year-old had attempted to paint it all (small wonder), but he didn't mind. Now, he had his own symbol, his own clothes, and a way to freak people out if they started to be mean to him again.

"Yeah," he muttered, responding to Sasuke's up-beat attitude.

"Whoa," Sasuke said, looking closer to the back. Naruto smiled slyly. "That's the coolest symbol-thingy I've ever seen! Way cooler than a stupid fan," he thumbed over his shoulder as he marched back in front of the swing-set and grabbed a swing.

They sat without talking for a while, Sasuke swinging back and forth, laughing loudly at seemingly random times. Finally he started to slow down, glancing over at his blond companion.

"Why don't you ever laugh?" he asked.

"Why should I?" Naruto responded dully.

Sasuke thought about it for a minute. "Because you're happy," he said finally.

"I don't get happy," Naruto grunted.

"Why not?" Naruto sighed at Sasuke's constant questions.

"Because everyone hates me."

"And you don't know why," Sasuke finished, sounding a little exasperated. "Why don't you smile anyways? If everyone hates you, then they want you to be sad, right?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly, and he glanced over at the dark-haired boy out of the corner of his eyes. "Yeah, so?"

"Why are you doing what they want you to do?" Naruto frowned. He'd never thought about it that way before. "Maybe," the rather talkative boy continued, "if you smile, they'll stop hating you because it's not working."

Naruto shook his blond head. "What? That didn't make sense."

"Sure it does," Sasuke grinned.

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled.

"I've got it! Why don't you--" Sasuke started, when something stopped both boys dead in their tracks.

"UCHIHA SASUKE!" After the first initial pause, they both turned to see a frantic Mokoto Uchiha running towards them. "What do you think you are doing, young man?!"

Sasuke simply shrunk back, having been caught red-handed, and just barely having enough sense to be embarrassed. "Uh-oh," he whispered.

"Who's that?" Naruto asked.

"My mom."

"Oh," the black-eyed boy sounded more depressed than Sasuke had ever heard him, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

Mokoto whisked up to him, and knelt down to look him over. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, mom," he muttered.

The woman's face suddenly grew serious. "Then DON'T you EVER do ANYTHING like this EVER again! Do you understand me?!" She stood up, towering over them, and putting her hands on her hips.

"Yes, ma'am," Sasuke said sadly.

"And you!" she suddenly rounded on Naruto, her stern voice suddenly taking on a threatening tone. "Don't you EVER come near my son again, you--you..." Before she could come up with a word to describe the situation, she seemed to remember herself, and faded off.

Naruto sat and watched with hopelessness as Sasuke got dragged away by his mother, protesting the entire time. "But mom, he's my friend!" he whined.

"He's nothing but a demon," Mokoto said to him. "And I never want to see you with him again."

"He's not a demon!" Sasuke protested, struggling unsuccessfully to break free of his mother's grasp.

Naruto watched the struggling pair go, then turned and started trudging back to the tower. He didn't cry. He never cried. Besides, he felt too sad to cry at the moment anyway. He'd never had a friend before, and now the one person that he may have eventually considered as a friend had been taken away. He couldn't help but feel like a part of him had just been torn out.

He wasn't feeling any better when he went to bed that night. If anything, he felt worse. No one wanted him around, except for Sandaime because of the stupid fox. If he ever got to talk to that thing, he'd...he'd...well, he didn't know what he'd do, but he knew what he wanted. He wanted the demon to go away. He just wanted to be a normal kid with friends, and parents.

"I hate you," he muttered as a single tear rolled down from his eyes and onto his pillow. "I hate you."

With that, he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Meetings and Changes

Sorry about the wait, guys. There was a mix-up with my beta-reader and...then life got in the way (like a 10 and 1/2 hour shift always standing on top of 7 straight days of work) and so yeah. But I already have the next chapter waiting and ready to go, so it should be up soon! Luv and Hugz!

xXx

The first thing he found himself aware of was the heaviness. The air around him felt almost dead. "How did I get here?" Naruto asked himself, looking around. For as far as he could see, an extremely dead-looking swamp-like place coated the ground like some rotting blanket, with nothing but dry trees and large, sharp rocks jutting out everywhere to form a sort of maze. The blond's forehead furrowed in confusion. He didn't remember anything other than returning to the Hokage tower.

So, what had happened to him, and why couldn't he remember? Had the town finally snapped and kicked him out only to leave him here(wherever here was) while he'd been sleeping? No, Sandaime would never allow that, he knew. Besides, there was something about this place seemed almost...familiar.

"Where am I?" He pondered, scratching his head. A sudden booming laugh from behind had him whipping around so quickly he nearly gave himself whiplash. That laugh had been deep and dark and...evil. That was the only way he could really describe it...and it had come from the gigantic cavern he'd somehow missed before.

Made of rock, it reached high above him, easily taller than he even remembered the Hokage tower looking. The gaping hole had been shut off with large, thickly bared gates. A little piece of paper had been pasted neatly on the gate. It read "seal" (or at least, he thought it did. Sandaime was the only person that ever taught him to read, and because of time restraints, that didn't happen too often) and looked amazingly tiny next to the immense expanse of the gate and cavern.

The entire set-up gave Naruto an ominous feeling that bordered on panic. He gulped and turned to leave just as the voice spoke up again. "You wanted to face me that bad, gaki?" the voice burst forth, knocking Naruto down to land on his butt. As Naruto watched--in fear mostly--two enormous, red eyes opened from behind the bars. For a moment, the two different pairs of pupils stared back at each other before the dark voice spoke yet again. "Why don't you come here?" He beckoned, (at least, he assumed it was a 'he' as Naruto still couldn't see who spoke. Unfortunately, he had a pretty good idea...

Eyes still wide with fear, he shook his head emphatically. "And here I wanted to kill you," the dark voice sounded disappointed. At that, Naruto scampered back and behind a rock, hiding from the mere feeling of the demon.

Yes, this had to be the demon...the Kyuubi. The single most powerful being on the face of the planet. While Naruto had found it difficult to wrap his mind around to begin with (and still did, for that matter),he had no problems believing it now. The mere feeling he got when around this creature convinced him of that.

"Well," said the voice, suddenly sounding bored, "didn't you have something to say to me, you pathetic whelp?" Naruto gulped. So this was the demon that he'd wanted to ream out. "Hurry up! I don't exactly have all day...oh wait," the fox paused, his voice taking on a sarcastic tone. "I do..." he continued, sounding suddenly and utterly angry, leaking out a killer intent that had Naruto gasping for breath. "...But I'll tell you now, stupid human, I have very little patience."

It was all Naruto could do to peek his head over the boulder, his eyes bulging and his mouth suddenly going dry. Well, he didn't know how he'd gotten here, nor did he really understand what was going on, but he did know he didn't want to be here any longer.

"Now," the ancient-sounding voice burst forth again, "do you want to say something to me?"

"N-no!" the dark-eyed boy yelped, and started running in the other direction, the booming laugh of the Kyuubi following behind him as he ran through the maze of stone and deadwood.

xXx

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright. For a second, he looked frantically around his rather bare room, until his heart stopped racing. Then he almost died from relief. It had all only been a dream.

Well, fake or not, that was NOT something he wanted to do again...ever. As much as he hated that fox that ruined his life, he did not want to go and face something  
that...evil. Now he could almost understand why the village hated him...

Almost.

Then again, Sarutobi knew all about the Fox (probably even fought the thing)and he still cared for Naruto. As he lay back down and tried to drift back to sleep, he couldn't help but take comfort in the fact that no matter what, somebody cared for him. He couldn't help but wonder, if that was what it was like to have a father.

xXx

"W-what do you mean?" the blond boy looked in horror at the Sandaime,"live on my own?"

"Well," Sarutobi hadn't expected that kind of a reaction. "Next month,you'll be entering the Ninja academy. You're entering it a good half year earlier than the other children, which means one more test you'll get to go through before them; one extra chance to pass.

Because you've reached that age, the council and I have decided that you're old enough to be on your own." Naruto blinked and looked down, his mind for some reason having difficulty grasping this new information. "You'd be getting your own place, paid for by the town until you become a Genin, plus a monthly allowance for you to buy everything you may need."

He couldn't understand at all why Naruto looked so unhappy. He'd thought the boy would be pleased to say the least.

"But," Naruto heard himself mutter quietly, "why can't I stay here with you?" Immediately, a light seemed to go on inside Sarutobi's head. Of course that's what he'd be worried about!

"It's nothing like that, Naruto," the Third leaned forward, smiling kindly. "You're still welcome here at the Tower at any time. It's just that you're old enough to look after yourself. You don't need the ANBU and Genin teams anymore because you've become stronger than that." The boy seemed to perk up at that. "Really?" he asked.

"Of course," the Third's smile widened, and he reached over to ruffle the boy's hair. "I wouldn't tell you something like that if it weren't true. It is my Nindo after all."

"Nindo?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, the previous conversation temporarily forgotten.

Sarutobi grinned and sat back in his chair. "A Nindo, or 'Way of the Ninja' is what motivates a ninja to stay a ninja." He pointed to the row of the Hokage pictures on the wall behind him. "Every ninja, especially a Hokage, has a Nindo. Most of the Hokages wanted to protect the people around them. As for me, though," his face softened slightly. "Mine is to help make people stronger and protect those I care about." He turned to Naruto, his own eyes sparkling but his expression, serious. "I will never lie to you or anyone about strength, because it's my Way of the Ninja."

"Oh," Naruto nodded, then thought for a moment. "Do I have to be a Hokage to protect people?" He asked. That took Sarutobi back for a second, and he blinked. How was it that children could do that to him?

"No, why do you say that?"

"Because you said that all the Hokage wanted to protect people. Does that mean I have to become Hokage?"

The Sandaime smiled. "No, but being Hokage is an admirable goal, and very difficult."

"Hmm," Naruto looked down, then back up a few minutes later. "So when do I have to leave?" he asked, little emotion showing in his voice. The Hokage had to restrain himself from shaking his head at the child. He never missed a beat, did he?

"Tomorrow, if you don't mind. I'll take you there myself." Naruto nodded, hopped off of the seat and turned to leave. When he reached the door, he turned and bowed politely to Sarutobi. "Goodbye, Sandaime-san," he said, and then left. The Third put a hand to his temple. He doubted he would have a more difficult time with the boy if he became the loudest, most obnoxious person in the world. How he ever came to be so polite with is heritage, background and upbringing was beyond the old ninja. Not that he minded, he thought as he ran his fingers over the worn wood of the Hokage desk, studying it's patterns as he continued to think. It just felt like whenever he had Uzumaki Naruto figured out, the boy would pull an emotionless face out of nowhere and completely throw him for a loop...or twenty. Sandaime did not like emotionless masks, and thinking about it only depressed him. It took a great deal of effort and self control to turn his thoughts and actions back to the never-ending paperwork piled on either end of his desk.

xXx

"So, do you like it?" the old Hokage asked from where he stood by the bedroom and bathroom doors. The apartment didn't look like much, but it was out of the way and on the third story in a rather rural little area. Not many people passed by here on a regular basis, offering Naruto a little relief from whatever persecution the people decided to inflict upon him. He doubted there would be much of that anymore. People had gotten used to the child being around, and knew he was protected by the Hokage himself, so they'd do little more than the odd threat or insult. He didn't like that either, but he had long-since concluded that this was the best choice of action. Letting Naruto learn from an early age to take care of himself would undoubtedly provide the best results as far as he was concerned.

Sarutobi also hoped that it would help to build the boy's confidence. He believed in keeping children as innocent as possible, but he also believed in not wasting time. The boy would need to know independence in the future, so it was better he learned now. After he'd become a Genin (hopefully at the age of 12 or younger) he'd stop paying rent so Naruto could understand the use of money and saving it. As for right now, though, he watched the quiet little boy wander around the apartment.

"Yes," he said with his usual emotionless face, then bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your help with this, Sandaime-san."

"You're welcome, Naruto," Sarutobi smiled and knelt down, ignoring the creaking of the old floorboards. This building had to be as old as the Hidden Village itself, if not older what with its stucco and brick exterior that desperately needed mending, and its rather worn, wooden frame, but he felt it was the best place for the best price. That was all on top of the ideal location and so few people around (including the land-lord who had told his ANBU member outright: "I don't care who the place is rented by. It could be the demon brat for all I care, as long as they pay their rent!")

"Now," he laid his hands on the child's shoulders. "Remember everything you've been taught, and do your best tomorrow, alright?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he said quietly. Sandaime allowed a soft smile to grace his wrinkled face and stood up. He was just about to leave when  
he heard someone speaking behind him. "I've decided what my Nindo is,"Naruto said quietly. Again, he'd been able to take Sarutobi by surprise.

"What is it?" the Third asked kindly.

"To get strong," he looked up at the old man, his dark eyes hardening indetermination. "I want to be stronger than you and any other Hokage." Sarutobi's face fell into its own emotionless state. Those words seemed to carry some sort of ominous threat instead of the hardened determination in the boy's face.

"Why do you say that, Naruto?"

The boy looked down at his feet. "So no one can call me worthless."

Silence fell over the room for several seconds before Sandaime bent down and lifted the boy's chin so he could look him in the eyes.

"You will never be worthless," he said with a smile. "Everyone always has their part to play, their role in the village. As long as you protect those around you, and do what you can for the village, then you will never be worthless, no matter how weak you may become physically. Do you understand?" Naruto blinked a few times before a smile small tugged at his lips, and he nodded.

"Good," Sandaime stood. "Now, why don't you go to bed, and I'll tuck you in on your first night in your own apartment." The boy nodded and hurried off to his room, where the old, rickety, second-hand aluminum-framed bed from his previous room had been brought. A few minutes later, Sarutobi walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind him (leaving the key on the kitchen table) before he began walking down the hallway towards the stairs. After a few feet, he stopped. "I want ANBU here around the clock for the next week. After that, I will personally see to the schedule. Dismissed."

"Yes, Hokage, sir," a voice said from the dark somewhere. He really had no doubt Naruto could take care of himself, but he didn't want to take any chances with the council. He'd almost gotten to a point where he considered the boy to be a grandson, and he would do what it took to keep him safe. As of right now, though, he had an appointment with his other "flesh-and-blood" grandson. He couldn't help but smile. Just over a year old, and Konohomaru was already starting to look like his grandfather. He walked down the steps of the apartment building with his head held high, realizing that at that moment, he couldn't feel more proud.


	8. Brothers

"Why are you still grinning when you've just twisted you're ankle?" Sasuke looked up from his place on his older-brother's back, surprised that Itachi had noticed...and even more surprised to find that he was indeed smiling. "Or are you just trying to get an easy ride?" Itachi's voice turned slightly accusatory.

"No way!" Sasuke practically yelled, either unaware or uncaring as to the proximity to his older brother's ear. The woods around them, normally very still, suddenly seemed to echo with his voice. "I'm just glad that tomorrow I'm gonna be an academy student! Now I'm one step closer to being able to protect my family!".

Itachi just shook his head and started walking on again. "And you think a clown like you will do well in the Academy?"

"Of course!" Sasuke sat up, upset that his brother would even have to ask. "You even said I learn fast!"

The dark-haired teen didn't look back, instead turning down yet another street and away from the training grounds at the edge of town. "I said you had some talent," he corrected, mildly surprised that Sasuke would remember that far back when he normally couldn't tell anyone much about anything that happened in the previous hours--with the exception of maybe what they had had to eat. "And father said 'that's true, but it's going to waste'," he continued, reminding the younger boy of the rest of the conversation. "Sasuke, talent won't get you everywhere. You can't rely on it. Even someone as talented as I had to work hard to reach where I am today. I still work hard to get better."

"I know, nii-san," Sasuke deflated against his brother's back, then glanced up suddenly when something caught his eye.

Itachi caught on immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded towards the building they'd started to pass. The structure looked amazingly large, and seemed to tower over everything around it. A blue, four-pronged star had been placed on the front, with the Uchiha fan in the middle. "This is where Father works, isn't it?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi looked mildly annoyed and relieved. "This is the headquarters of the Leaf's police force," he explained.

"Oh. Why does the police force have the Uchiha symbol on the front?"

"So you noticed that?" Itachi raised an eyebrow with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Of course!" Sasuke said defensively. "I noticed that a long time ago!"

Itachi's smile widened. "Of course you did," he said. "Well, to make it simple, the man who founded the police was our ancestor. Our clan protected the order of the village from long ago. Our emblem is also a mark of our honorable clan.

"The Uchiha clan hasn't decreased, but nearly all of us are working for the first division of the force, helping to keep the order of the village." At this, he finally turned his head to look at his little brother. "Only those who can enforce the law on shinobi are superior shinobi."

Sasuke blinked at his brother's words. Superior shinobi? Of course he wanted to be a the best, but there was just something about how Itachi had said that...he didn't like it, but he didn't know why. Weren't all Shinobi the same? Equal beings? He couldn't even remember who told him that, but it made sense to him. Even the Hokage had to have weaknesses, right? They were just harder to find.

That gave him an idea. "Maybe I'll join the police force when I grow up," he stated, "but only until I become Hokage!" He grinned down at his older brother. "You should join the police force and become captain, and I'll become Hokage, and then we can make everyone happy and safe!"

Itachi looked slightly surprised at that; a rarity in and of itself because of his normal "lack of emotion" state that he'd worked so hard to achieve. He was, after all, the model Uchiha. "Hokage?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Sasuke's grin widened. "And dad's gonna come tomorrow to the entrance ceremony. He'll see! I'll be that much closer to becoming Hokage!"

Itachi and Sasuke fell silent for the rest of the walk back to the Uchiha mansion. Then, just as they walked up to the front entrance, a figure stepped out from behind the wall. "You're late," Uchiha Fugaku said sternly, fixing his eyes on his oldest son. "What were you doing?" He didn't even wait for a response, instead hurrying on. "I've got something to tell you. We have to hurry back."

Sasuke didn't know if it was just him, but he seemed to feel his brother slump slightly underneath him. "Yes," was all he said. And with that, they followed their father inside.

xXx

It kind of hurt to kneel on his bad ankle, but he grit his teeth and bore it as best he could. He would not look weak in front of his father. His father who rarely even looked at him anymore, and always told him he would never be a proper Uchiha with the way he acted. Apparently he wasn't serious enough or dedicated enough. That's why the entrance ceremony the next day would be so important. Not only could he find Naruto again, but he could also show his father that he could be dedicated, and that he could do things right.

His older brother knelt respectfully beside him, also looking at their father in silence. They'd entered the house in silence, as well as the room, and didn't even speak as he sat on the pillow at the head of the room, facing them. The longer it stayed quiet, the heavier everything felt. Sasuke didn't know why, but he really just wanted someone to start talking so he didn't have to take this awkward void of sound anymore...but he didn't want to be the one to break it.

"That's my boy!" Fugaku suddenly said, a slight, proud smile appearing on his face. "You've gotten this far in only a half a year since you became Chunin." He paused slightly, and Sasuke waited for his brother to say something in acknowledgment...but nothing came. Surprised, he looked over at him as their father continued. "And for Tomorrow's special mission, I've decided to come along."

Sasuke didn't know whether he felt more surprised or hurt at those words. His mother had promised that his father would be there! She'd said herself that he was coming and she never lied. He was about to open his mouth in protest, but his father unknowingly cut him off.

"If this mission is successful," his gaze on Itachi seemed to deepen, "your enlistment into the ANBU will be official." Then, as Sasuke and Itachi looked on, his eyes melted into the red of the Sharingan. "Do you understand?"

Sasuke couldn't look at his father anymore. He felt like crying, but he couldn't do that here or now, so he just looked away and clutched his yellow shorts tighter.

"Of course father," he heard Itachi speak up. "Don't worry about it so much, however..." something in his tone of voice made Sasuke look over at him. As he did so, he saw a kind, smiling face. That never happened (he almost couldn't believe what he saw). Was his brother actually smiling down at him? That helped, a lot, and gave the child courage.

"Dad," he spoke up, then suddenly seemed to lose what courage he'd gained. "Er...about tomorrow--"

"Our mission tomorrow," the older man interrupted, ignoring Sasuke completely, "will become a very important mission for our clan."

Sasuke clutched his pants tighter. "But--" he started, but the look his father suddenly sent him shut him up almost immediately. Feeling his heart sink, he looked down to the side. He didn't see Itachi look over at him with pity. He only heard him speak a few seconds later.

"I guess I'll have to drop the mission tomorrow," he said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Both Sasuke and Fugaku said at the same time, although the older man said it with much more of an exclamation.

Sasuke could only stare at his older brother while his father continued. "Are you insane?! You know how important tomorrow is! What's going on with you?!"

"I'm going to Sasuke's entrance ceremony into the ninja academy," Itachi continued non-chalantly. Sasuke blinked in surprise, a barely conatined smile tugging at his lips. 'Thanks, nii-chan,' he thought as he sent his brother a grateful look.

Itachi didn't look at him as he went on. "The entrance ceremony usually requires at least one relative to come along. You've received the notice too, father?"

Fugaku looked slightly stunned, and more than a little annoyed, but he sighed and stood up. "I understand," he said, resigned. "I'll go to the academy." Sasuke felt a grin wash over his face. "Uchiha are elite ninja. They don't reveal their emotions," their father said as he walked by them and out of the room. Sasuke's mouth immediately fell from the smile, but even that couldn't ruin his gratitude for his brother at the moment.

They rose and followed Fugaku out of the room, Sasuke limping slightly. "Keep some ice on that left leg, okay?" Itachi said as Sasuke slid the paper door closed behind him. Sasuke looked up with a smile, only to see the older Uchiha walking away. There was something about the smile that he'd shot Sasuke that made it feel...fake, almost distant. "Thank you, nii-chan," he whispered. Itachi paused for a moment, the only response that let his younger brother know he'd heard. Then Sasuke tried (unsuccessfully) to brush it off and turned to go find some ice for his ankle.

xXx

Sarutobi looked out over the group of children now standing in neat rows before him and continued his memorized speech. This year the academy held some promising students. Most of the prestigious clans in Kohona had a child in this group somewhere. The Hyuuga heiress for instance stood on the second row, trying her best to look brave and deserving, although it was plain to see she was trembling to be in front of everyone. She kept fiddling with her fingers for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing, and put her hands down to her sides, only to have them rise up not a minute later to start the process all over again. Truthfully, the Hokage found it refreshing to see a timid Hyuuga, and he couldn't help but wonder how long that would last.

There was an Aburame child standing stoic as ever in the middle of the crowd, and a Nara who looked like he had long-since caught onto the laziness and boredom that the family was well known for. The Yamanaka's had a little platinum blond girl who kept looking around with a knowing smile on her face right next to the round, jolly looking Akimichi boy. There was even a dark haired Inoue girl who looked almost as bored as the Nara boy. Not surprising since her family seemed to think about as high of themselves as the Uchihas, despite the fact that they didn't hold a bloodline limit, and their family's water-based techniques weren't too difficult for an outsider to learn.

That, of course, brought him to the Uchiha boy standing towards the back, trying his best to not look like he wanted to just get out of there. The third could always tell when someone had tried their hardest, and right now he knew the dark-haired boy just wanted to run around and do anything besides just stand there. He almost chuckled at that (although he refrained as it would have ruined his speech). Just imagine an Uchiha who wasn't stoic. There hadn't been one like that since little Obito...

If he would have been smiling, it would have faded at that moment. He didn't like to think of those who had died at happy, promising times like this, especially the young ones.

"...Please work hard to follow the shinobi way," he finished his speech. Everyone started clapping in respect as he bowed and gracefully left the stage, signaling the end of the ceremony. He looked around at the children that rushed over to their parents (or in some cases, slowly meandered), thankful that he'd not put Naruto through all of this. By entering him into the academy early, he'd been able to slip said entrance by most of the council until it was too late, and spared the boy a little bit of mental pain while he was at it. Frankly, he felt quite pleased with himself. He knew that with Naruto's skill level, he'd probably be placed in this class with the rest of the students (and that was only after the council had found out about him when they couldn't kick the boy out. Instead, just as he'd predicted, they demanded that he be held back a grade), which would ensure he was around children his own age. Yes, as of right now, everything seemed to be going according to plan.

Now the only thing that remained to be seen, was how the Hyuuga's, Inazuki's, and the Uchiha's thought about their children and the demon container being in the same class...

Suddenly, that headache that he'd been able to get rid of only a few days before came back with full force.


	9. Not Like You

Sasuke waited patiently by the doors of the Uchiha compound, absently tossing a kunai into the air lightly and then catching it again after a few turns. After that, he'd toss it again, and catch it again, willing his control of the little tool to increase while at the same time keeping his mind on other things. He felt his brother's presence first, and looked up to see him appear from practically nowhere on the street that lead to the gate, looking more haggard and tired than Sasuke had ever seen him.

"Well, this is a surprise," Itachi raised an eyebrow, the only emotion on his once again stoic face. "You aren't waiting to ambush me today, and you aren't practicing. What happened?" Sasuke allowed a small smile at the thought of how well his brother knew him. "Did the ceremony go well?" the older boy asked, walking by Sasuke without even glancing down a second time.

Sasuke hurried to catch up with him. "Yeah," he said.

"I also asked you what happened," Itachi said after a pause. Sasuke couldn't help but feel it was a reprimand for forgetting or something and his smile faltered.

"Sorry, Onii-chan," he said. "It's just...we talked to an instructor who taught you."

"Oh?" Itachi asked, still not looking down. "Who was it?"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrow. He hadn't really been listening at that time. "I don't remember," he said, slightly ashamed but trying to hide it by returning the smile.

"Good shinobi always remember information. Getting into that habit now could save your life in the future. Do not forget that." Itachi said, his emotionless voice crossing the gentle breeze harshly.

"Hai, Onii-san," Sasuke said in an unusually quiet voice, still looking away.

At that, Itachi finally looked down out of the corner of his eye, and raised an eyebrow. "Well?" he urged.

Sasuke didn't look up, and Itachi could have sworn he heard a soft grunt, but let it go. "Dad said that I should grow up to be a fine shinobi, like you," he paused. "But...I don't want to be just like you, onii-chan."

Itachi felt surprise rise within him, along with a slight pang of hurt (which surprised him more than what his brother had actually said. He was above that!). How was it that his younger brother could be so...unpredictable?

"Why not?" was all he replied with.

"Because, I'm not you," Sasuke said slowly, raising a hand to his black hair and scratching it as if trying to put his difficult thoughts into words. Itachi stopped and turned to look at his brother who continued speaking, still having a hard time. "I mean, you're a great shinobi, nii-chan...the best really! And I want to be good too, but...I want to be me, not you."

If the older boy hadn't known any better, he would have sworn he felt a rise of jealousy at that. Was he not worthy of his own brother's admiration? Then, of course, there was the fact that he'd been counting on that. If things didn't change soon, he would have to modify his plans (that was, if he had to implement them in the first place, hopefully he could avoid that). He had to fight back a sigh. Everything had been planned out so perfectly too. Not that this threw everything off, but even tweaking his plan around at this point would become annoying to say the least.

He hated improvising on something as important as that...

Itachi continued to stare down at his younger brother for a moment before turning and continuing on. "You should do whatever works, and whatever will get the job done, Sasuke. Don't be concerned with who you're copying or who else has a certain technique. If it works, then use it. If it doesn't, then don't. It's that simple."

Sasuke didn't go to catch up with him again. Instead he whispered something that Itachi barely heard. "Then why do I have to learn the Uchiha way?"

The ANBU member actually stopped and whipped around quickly enough that he almost hit himself in the face with his own hair, eyes wide. "What was that?" he asked, now more surprised than ever. "Why wouldn't you want to use the Uchiha teachings? Our ancestors took the best of everything and actually made it a style. Why wouldn't you want that?"

The blue-eyed boy looked up, his face now in one of those rare serious expressions. "I've been thinking," he said softly. "Could we beat everyone if we didn't have the Sharingan?"

At that point, Itachi almost found himself surprised when his jaw didn't hit the floor. Just how perceptive was his brother, and why hadn't he noticed before? Instead of showing that though, he pretended to ponder for a moment. "I don't know, Sasuke," he said slowly. "We have techniques and training that don't involve Sharingan, and no one should ever rely to heavily on one part of their ninja arsenal, so I'd say it would depend on the ninjas."

"So, without Sharingan, we're just like normal shinobi, right?"

Itachi nodded, realizing with resignation that it would be just be safer if he just changed his plans for the future, while most definitely keep a closer eye on Sasuke.

"Well," the boy continued, looking as if he were in completely unfamiliar territory (which probably wasn't far from the truth). "Don't their techniques work just as well for them?" Now Itachi knew where he was going.

He nodded. "Well, every style has a weakness, Sasuke, even ours. Some styles focus more on defense, and some on offense. Some focus on the hands, some on the feet and legs, others on fluid combinations between them, and then you have those that use weapons. After that, you get into the bloodline limits and clan techniques. Sharingan can copy almost all of them, so why not use it?"

"But isn't that using Sharingan too much?" Sasuke asked, his eyes genuinely looking for the answer in his brother.

"You mean like depending on it?" Itachi asked, then realized something...this seven-year-old boy had stumbled across something even he had only vaguely thought about and even dismissed. "I guess, you're right, Sasuke," he said finally, hid words slow and careful. "It is."

"I wanna become strong on my own, dattebayo!" the boy suddenly struck a pose, and with that, all seriousness in the conversation fled like cockroaches scattering from a light.

"Dattebayo?"

Sasuke grinned. "I made it up."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I see," he said, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

"I want to be able to use Sharingan when I activate it," Sasuke continued. "But I also want to be able to fight without it just as well."

"Well then," Itachi walked over to his brother and placed a hand on his head, gently ruffling the hair. "That's not going to be easy, so I suggest you start training now."

"Hai!" Sasuke grinned and turned to run off. Before he did, though, he stopped and turned to look at his big brother. "Onii-chan," he said hesitantly, "you're not mad at me, are you?"

The Jounin blinked. "Why would I be?" How could he know he'd just thrown off a good portion of Itachi's future? He was sure he'd kept it hidden well enough. Could Sasuke have...

"Because I said I don't wanna be just like you."

Itachi smiled, slightly relieved. It seemed he had overestimated his brother there for a moment. "Why should that bother me? I'll always be here to help you Sasuke, even if it means becoming an obstacle for you to overcome."

The smaller boy grinned. "Good! I'm still gonna be as good as you...or better!" the smaller boy said with a large grin crossing his face. "Believe it, dattebayo! I have to be if I'm gonna be Hokage!" With that, he turned and took off in the direction of the Uchiha's personal training field.

And just for a heartbeat, although he would never admit it, Itachi did believe him. The way things were turning out between the boys and their clan history forgotten for that instant, and the future that seemed to want to oppress them both vanished.

It felt good, for just that second, to be free of it all as he watched his determined, but naive little brother run away.

As soon as he turned out of sight, though, all of it came crashing back down on the older Uchiha's shoulders. He knew where the politics were leading, and he knew what both his clan and the Council wanted him to do. He knew he'd have to choose at one point…and once he did, he doubted either of them could truly be free.

"I almost wish you could, little brother," he said softly and shook his head. Then he turned, his emotionless facade back in place. "But you're just a fool to honestly believe that. Any Uchiha is."

xXx

Naruto sat quietly atop the Hokage monument, thankful to be away from the hateful glares the villagers and teachers sent his way. He'd just been recently informed that he'd be held back a grade (which he didn't mind too much, because he wasn't sure he could ever get this 'chakra control' thing down). He'd be taught at his own pace, just like the rest of the class, and Sandaime had even said that it was only because some people were worried about him.

He doubted it. No one ever worried about him besides the third, now that that stupid Uchiha had left. No one wanted him around, and no one would allow him to move on if they could have anything to do with it.

He ground his teeth slightly, feeling the anger rise inside of him. Then, he looked down at the monument. He couldn't see much of it from this angle, but he could tell which face was which.

"This is all your fault," he growled out in the direction of the Fourth Hokage. "All of it! My life is horrible because of YOU!" he yelled. "You and that stupid fox! I'll never forgive you! YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER!" he shook his fist in the general direction of the Fourth. "And I'll become strong enough that I never have to put up with people hating me for what you did."

With that, he turned away and began stalking down the cliff side, unaware of Sandaime's saddened eyes watching him from the little sight-seeing mirror bowl he kept in his office.


	10. Academy

Here's a thanx to Mormongirlbyu for helping me out and beta-reading this! glomp You rock! Oh, and thanx to all of my readers too!

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"NARUTO!" The blond head snapped up and he blinked. The teacher hadn't come in yet, and this was the first time he'd been to his new class, so he couldn't help but look over in surprise at his name being called, although that voice sounded familiar... "No way! You're here too! That is so awesome!" The black-haired Uchiha plopped down in the seat next to his friend, a grin splitting his face from one end to the other. "Now my mom can't say that we can't be friends!"

Naruto blinked at the boy, took a quick glance around the room at the few kids who had filtered into the classroom in the last few minutes before turning away and looking straight at the blackboard with a blank expression. "It's better if you're not."

Sasuke blinked. "Huh?" he asked. "Why?"

"Because."

"That's not a good reason!" Sasuke insisted. Naruto felt a vein in his forehead begin to throb.

"Of course it is!"

Sasuke folded his arms and shook his head. "No way. Unless you give me a good answer, I'm not gonna stop being your friend!"

Naruto grit his teeth and ignored the comment and went back to thinking on how badly this day would turn out, sitting stiffly in his seat and continuing to gaze at the blank chalkboard. "I wonder how this teacher will treat me..." he said softly.

"What?" Sasuke looked over. "What do you mean by that?"

"None of your business."

"Then why did you say it out loud?" Sasuke asked, a triumphant smirk crossing his face.

Naruto felt the throb of annoyance increase at the black-haired boy's words. "Because I'm used to being alone." He almost had to suppress a triumphant smirk of his own when Sasuke's sobered.

"Oh," Sasuke said, then his smile returned full force. "Well you'd better get used to not being alone anymore!"

It took everything within Naruto to not roll his eyes. For the love of Konoha, did this kid know when to quit?

"Hey…" Apparently not, Naruto thought to himself as the blue-eyed child spoke up again. The blond slowly turned and looked over at Sasuke (reluctantly) to see the dark-haired boy studying him. "Have you ever met my brother, Uchiha Itachi?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly before settling his face back to being carved from stone. "No."

"Oh. You act just like him."

"What?" Naruto looked over at Sasuke, disbelief, confusion and annoyance written all over his face. Why would he want to act like a stupid, stuck-up Uchiha?

"You're--"

"Good morning class!" a man appeared at the front of the room in a puff of smoke. Sasuke immediately realized that it was the larger-set man with short hair that he and his father had talked to the previous day about Itachi, and sighed, his conversation with Naruto forgotten. He had a feeling that this would be a long day...so he cracked his neck and settled in for the ride like he normally did: with a smile hiding the grimace.

xXx

Naruto made a bee-line for the door as casually as he could. The less attention he drew to himself in the midst of all the kids rushing out the door to their waiting parents, the better...but at this point, all he wanted to do was get out of there before--

"Naruto!" He flinched at the sound of his name being called, knowing very well who had called it. Was this supposed to be some kind of punishment? He'd almost missed the loud boy when they'd been told that they couldn't be friends...now he was wondering how desperate he'd really become to ever think that. He quickened his pace, hoping that the other would take the hint (yeah, right), and had almost made it to the door with the other students when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, wait up!"

"Why?" Naruto didn't even look over his shoulder.

"Want to practice with me?"

For the first time in a very long time, Naruto wanted to scream in frustration, not that he did or would (again, it would only bring him more attention, and right now, that was the last thing he wanted), but still, he wanted to.

"What?" he asked, turning to see the blue-eyed Uchiha.

Sasuke's large grin sat on his face making him look...was it just Naruto's imagination, or did he look like a fox? He shook that thought from his head as soon as it entered.

He didn't particularly like foxes.

"I asked if you wanted to..." he faded off as Naruto shook his head. "Oh," he said, sounding more than a little dejected. Then, he immediately brightened up. "That's okay! Tomorrow then!"

With that, the Uchiha turned to walk out the door. He'd barely stepped through when he froze having heard his own name called. Turning, he saw his mother come walking up to him with a bright face.

"Sasuke! I was passing by and decided to pick you..." she faded off when she saw who had been standing right next to him. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

Not wanting to cause another scene, Naruto gulped and turned to walk away. Sasuke, seeing this, suddenly set his jaw and stalked up to the dark-haired woman.

"Mom," Sasuke walked up to her. "I don't care what you or anyone else says; I'm gonna be friends with Naruto. Now let's go." The unusually stoic boy turned and started walking through the training ground around the school, ignoring the confused looks other parents shot at the scene. Naruto winced at his words. That's all he needed, to make yet another enemy--

"Naruto-kun," he heard his name and froze, panic washing over him. Sasuke hadn't called him that time...so what? Wincing, he turned around to face the dark-haired woman. She had a resigned look on her face. Looking more than a little uncomfortable, she walked towards the blond boy, who shied back as if expecting to be hit.

Instead, she knelt down and looked him in the eye. Warily, he looked over at her, peeking through one eye, then the other.

"Naruto-kun...I owe you an apology." The first thing Naruto felt when hearing those words was an immense shock. No one except the Sandaime apologized to him. Disbelief came second. Why would anyone apologize to him? Especially anyone old enough to know why everyone hated him (stupid Fox!)? Then came confusion. So, had he just imagined her speaking like that?

"What I said to you that day..." apparently not…or he had happened into the midst of a genjutsu of some kind, "…they were only the words of a very worried mother." She sighed and shook her head, "that's no excuse, I know, which is why I am apologizing." She looked over her shoulder at her own dumbfounded son. "If you want to be friends with my son, I give you my permission. My only requirement is that you both be careful. People will not like to see you two as friends, and thus will not accept it...especially the rest of the clan."

She turned and walked towards a still shocked Sasuke before pausing and looking over her shoulder. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I know your burden is not your choice."

Sasuke watched the entire exchange almost disbelieving. Uchihas never apologized...ever! At least that's what he'd been told (not that he cared, but his mother had always seemed to be a proper Uchiha in his view).

Then, his mother's words registered, and he blinked. Burden? What burden? No parents? Everyone knew Naruto was an orphan. Well, that part definitely fit what she'd said. He didn't choose to be an orphan. Is that why everyone hated him? That made no sense though, he knew of other kids in their class who were orphans, and he didn't think that people hated them (and everyone thought he was unobservant too. He'd been really proud of himself when he'd consciously registered the way other kids and the teachers treated Naruto as compared to everyone else).

"Sasuke," he blinked out of his thoughts and looked up at his mother. "Can you forgive me as well? Can you forgive me for saying something so horrible about your friend?"

He responded immediately. "Of course, Kaa-san!" He noticed Naruto standing several feet away, looking as if he were digesting something particularly difficult. "That is, if Naruto forgives you."

"Well, today," she looked over her shoulder apologetically at Naruto, "Sasuke needs to train at home." She turned to her son again. "Just let me know when you two are going to--'hang out' I believe the kids today call it."

"Hai, kaa-san!" Sasuke grinned and waved at Naruto. "See you tomorrow!"

Naruto watched them leave with the vague feeling that he'd missed something. Nothing in his life ever turned out that well. Why should he honestly believe this was any different? Something in the back of his mind pointed out that none of the usual rules applied when that stupid Uchiha was involved, but he conveniently ignored that thought as he turned to head home, still in a daze.


	11. Training

Author's Note: K, guys, a lot of this I'm taking directly off of the fan-translations I can find here online (since I don't have any Naruto books here in Florida), and I'm trying to follow it as closely as possible. If it gets too boring, or feels like it's not really moving anywhere, please let me know! I know I've been getting about 50 or so people a day hitting the page, and no one seems to want to leave a comment...I'd really like to know how I'm doing, so please let me know.

Long chapter ahead. You have been warned.

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"No, like this," Sasuke said, taking a stance again and flicking his wrist. The tiny shrukien didn't hit dead on the mark, but it came close. "See?" he said.

"It's not a bulls eye," Naruto said flatly.

Sasuke turned a glare at his friend. "So I need practice, even if I am at the top of the class. Why do you think I'm out here with you?"

"To bother me."

"Yeah well..." Sasuke started, but couldn't come up with a good comeback. Finally, his face lit up. "You need practice more. You're in last place all the time." It wasn't a lie either. In most areas, Naruto came in last place, or close to last…although, those areas where he didn't come in the last or second to last, he excelled in. His best subject was strategy for some reason...

Naruto didn't even dignify Sasuke with an answer, having returned to his own practice, which only served to get the Uchiha even angrier. "Hey, stupid," he growled out, but again, Naruto didn't answer. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, a small, triumphant smile graced the blonde's lips.

Sasuke went to stalk towards his friend, fully intending on teaching him a lesson when heard the giggling, and sighed, his legs suddenly feeling very heavy as his anger melted away into a tired annoyance. Ever since he'd started school, girls seemed to follow him around, giggling and pointing at him until he looked at them. Then they'd all look away or scatter. It drove him nuts! What the heck did they want anyways? He couldn't ever figure it out, and they'd never tell him when he asked. They'd only giggle more and blush. Stupid girls.

"Hey Naruto, I'm heading home," he said, suddenly feeling very weary. He had to show his father his report card...and he knew that it wouldn't be very pretty.

"Whatever, teme," Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Say that again, stupid?!" He turned around, fist clenched.

The dark-eyed boy turned with a full-fledged smirk on his face. "I said 'whatever, Teme'."

"Why you..." Naruto started forward again, but again the squealing of the girls stopped him. For several moments, he looked helplessly between their bush and Naruto before throwing his hands into the air. "Maybe when you're good enough to put up a challenge, I'll fight you and we can really see who's the 'teme'."

With that, Sasuke turned and walked away with his own triumphant smile.

"Teme," Naruto grumbled again and went back to throwing. Surprisingly, he got a good three out of five with what Sasuke showed him. That fact only made him scowl. Why did that stupid show-off have to be right, and why didn't the teachers at school correct him if he'd been that far off? Between his accuracy and chakra molding (which by the way was practically non-existent) he could barely stay in the class at all. He needed all the help he could get, and he knew it...and he knew the teachers knew it. The only one that even seemed decent to him was Iruka-Sensei, and Naruto's class wouldn't even have him as a full-time teacher until their last two years in the Academy. Even he tended to look at Naruto like he had a virus that would spread to everyone else if they weren't careful.

He hated it.

That's when he noticed that a few of Sasuke's "fan-girls" had stuck around instead of following the other boy.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

xXx

"So what do you like about him?" Ino asked her shy, pink-haired friend as they were looking over at the blond boy.

"He's always so quiet, and he works hard," she said. "I don't like loud boys."

Ino blinked. "Oh, you mean like Sasuke?" Sakura made a face. "So looks mean nothing to you?" Ino raised an eyebrow and glanced out at the practicing boy.

"Of course they do!" Sakura defended, then seemed to realize what had come out and blushed at her sudden outburst. "He doesn't look that bad."

Ino scrutinized the blond boy again. "Hmm, maybe..." she said. "At least he doesn't wear those bright colors that Sasuke wears (although I still think he's hot)," she added on as an after thought.

Sakura giggled as she looked out at the practicing boy. "Yeah, he looks great in the dark black and blue."

"His shirt's white right now...and it's a belly shirt," Ino made her own face as to what she thought of that. "Do you even know if he likes girls?"

The pink-haired girl blinked. "What do you mean? He's a boy." Ino didn't respond, instead choosing to shake her head at her friend's naivety.

"Well, at the very least, you won't have much competition," the blond stood up. "Now I'm going to go find Sasuke."

"Okay," Sakura grinned and watched as her friend stood up and brushed herself off. "See you later?"

Ino grinned down. "Sure." She turned to leave, but paused before she could tread through the rather dense foliage. "You know, it's a good think you don't like Sasuke, or we'd have to be rivals."

Sakura blinked at her for a moment before grinning back in a rather uncharacteristic challenge. "Then it's a good thing you don't like Naruto."

Ino just shot her friend a grin, glad that the girl had finally started to grow a backbone, and walked away, leaving the shy girl to watch over her first crush.

xXx

Sasuke looked down at the report card clutched tightly in his hand. He was the first in the class in everything...except for Senjutsu. He hated strategy. If he had time to think about it, it took him forever to come up with something, and usually whatever he came up with wasn't anywhere near the best answer…although he could out think just about anyone else in the class when it came to on-the-spot, quick thinking and solutions.

He knew that he'd have to be the best in everything though before he'd be let off the hook...and for this he'd be spending the rest of the night and probably the rest of the month studying.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't see the figure in front of him until he'd crashed right into them, knocking them both to the ground.

Surprised and berating himself for becoming so distracted, Sasuke looked up at the person he'd knocked into. A girl he recognized from his class sat rather dazed on the ground with her eyes closed. She had extremely pale skin and hair so dark that almost looked like she had blue highlights.

"I'm sorry!" they both said at the same time, each surprising the other. Sasuke shook it off first and scrambled to right himself before trying to help her up. That's when he saw her eyes. The pale, mother-of-pearl iris and no pupil clearly marked her as a Hyuuga. He paused as his father's words about how every Hyuuga was untrustworthy and always trying to undermine the Uchihas came to mind.

For a moment they stared at each other, until Sasuke shrugged his father's voice off and reached out again to help her up.

"G-gomen," she said again. "I wasn't...I-I mean I didn't," she stuttered. Sasuke had to hide a smile. He couldn't see this Hyuuga as anything short of harmless at the moment, no matter what his father said.

"No, it's my fault," he said. "I need to pay more attention and be more like a Ninja." He grinned at her when they both had righted themselves. "Next time I'll make sure no one else gets hurt, dattebayo!"

She looked down, blushing slightly. "T-thank you," she said.

"Hey," he leaned down, looking her in the eyes, "I'll see you in class! We can spar sometime. I'll bet you're really good."

She looked even further down, and brought her fingers up to her chin, fiddling with them. "N-not r-r-really."

"Oh," Sasuke paused for a second, before a thought came to his head. "Well then I'll help you out, okay?"

She started, and she looked up with wide eyes at the boy in front of her. "B-b-but you're an U-Uchiha."

"And you're a Hyuuga," he shrugged. "We both belong to the same village, right? That means we both protect the people here! So we can both help each other, right?" He suddenly seemed to realize what time it was, and looked down at the paper still in his hand. "Oh man, I gotta go! Later!" With that, he waved and ran off down the deserted street, leaving a very shocked little girl staring after him.

xXx

Sasuke knew the look on his father's face, and would have been cringing if he had not already resigned himself to what was about to come.

"How disappointing," the older man said in a quiet voice. It would have been better if he would have yelled. "We have taught you everything you need to know to be ahead. We are Uchiha. That means we are the best."

"I know, father," he said quietly."

"Then why haven't you excelled in this?"

The truth was, he couldn't concentrate long enough for that. He'd much rather just rush in and take everything as it came. Somehow, he felt he'd do things better that way. "I will do better, father," was all he said. He knew that would be the only way he'd get the lightest sentence in this situation. If he blamed it on someone else, then not only would he feel like a coward, but his father would point it out, tell him how unworthy he was, and a few dozen other things before pushing several-months-long sentence on the young boy's head. Of course, Sasuke could say exactly what it was, and his father would double or triple his training until he had no spontaneity left inside of him. Somehow, that scared him more than his father being upset at him.

"See that you do," his father stood calmly, and Sasuke bowed down on his knees, putting his face near the floor respectfully. "Who is this person who is ahead of you?" his father asked, looking down at the sheet carefully.

"It used to be Nara Shikamaru," he said slowly, "but lately, his grades have begun to drop." Fugaku's face never changed, but somehow Sasuke felt that his father had expected something like that. "Now, though, it's Uzumaki Naruto."

"What?!" Sasuke jumped at that. He'd never heard his father raise his voice like that before. Suddenly, the dark-haired boy feared the worst. Was it because Sasuke had been hanging around him? His mother never kept secrets from his father, so he had to know about Sasuke meeting Naruto. Still, as Sasuke looked down, trying his hardest not to cringe in fearful anticipation, his father said nothing. After a few seconds, Naruto dared a glance up, and found himself surprised when the man in front of him only looked slightly upset. Of course, Uchiha Fugaku looking upset at all meant that he was probably about to explode. His father never showed any emotion.

Finally, the Uchiha seemed to realize where he was and looked back down at his son. "Very well," he said. "You may leave."

"Yes, father," Sasuke said quietly, and got up. He forced himself to walk calmly to the door, and shut it gently, but as soon as he'd left the room, he ran. He ran as quickly as he could down the wooden walk-way around the house. He had to get away...and he knew exactly where he wanted to go…the same place he always went when he felt so upset.

It looked like his mother might be bandaging up those scratches again after all.

xXx

The night had settled in deep and soft around the hidden village of the leaf; the kind of night that seemed to sneak in and wrap itself around someone with comfort and lull them gently to sleep, if one let it. That was why the loud words that split the peace in half woke Sasuke up.

His father's voice…and his brother's… They were talking about something important that was going to happen tomorrow…

"You don't understand where your position is…" Both his father and his mother sat, looking rather displeased at Itachi. Well, his father did. His mother looked more confused than anything.

What are they doing so late at night? Sasuke asked himself, rubbing his eyes. They had the lights off too…

"Tomorrow, I have a mission to do," Itachi said, looking away from his father.

"What mission?" Fugaku responded immediately, looking more unpleasant than ever.

Itachi seemed to deflate somewhat. "I can't say. It's an absolutely secret mission."

Mokoto started slightly at that and looked over at her husband, worry crossing her eyes. After what seemed like forever, the oldest Uchiha in the room spoke in an icy tone that made Sasuke cringe. "Itachi, you're the backbone that connects this family to the village. You have to be a useful connection. You understand that, right?"

Sasuke couldn't quite comprehend everything they said. Connection? What the heck did that mean? Wasn't it the Uchiha's fault that they were distant from the village? He'd heard Itachi say something like that once. Was that what this was all about? Useful? Wasn't Itachi always useful? He was one of the best ninja's ever. Sasuke had been so proud when he'd overheard that Itachi had been made an ANBU (which he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to hear).

Itachi didn't answer for several seconds. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally opened his mouth simply and said, "yeah."

"Impress them well," Fugaku spoke again, sounding lofty and commanding, "and come to tomorrow's meeting."

Again Itachi didn't answer, and Sasuke had to wonder if he was going to. He felt like he had to find out how all of this would end. He didn't know what it was about, but it seemed important for some reason—

"Sasuke," the blue-eyed boy jumped at the sound of his name coming from his brother. "Go to the bathroom, and then quickly go to sleep."

Suddenly Sasuke felt heat in his cheeks. He had been eavesdropping on a conversation that wasn't exactly his business…and worse yet, he'd been caught. Shamefully he opened the door. "Hai," he said quietly.

"Loitering around this late at night?" if Fugaku's voice had been icy before, it had gone far beyond frigid now. "Hurry up and sleep!" The older man rose and began to walk towards Sasuke. It was all the younger boy could do to not shrink back.

"Okay…" Sasuke responded quietly and turned around. He glanced over the shoulder at his brother, and met his dark eyes before his father closed the door between them, leaving him in the stillness of the night once more. Dejectedly, he turned and began walking back to his room.


	12. The Uchiha

Note to anyone who has ever beta-read for me: I am SO sorry, but I've lost numbers, contacts and many of my stories and drawings (SO ticked) because my computer died on me. I thought I had it all backed up, but no such luck. I got most of it, but as you can see, some of it went missing. So I am SO sorry for this. If you are still interested in beta-reading, please send me an e-mail, and prepare to get something back immediately on all three of my stories...and a fourth I've been considering.

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"Ouch!" the little girl cried out as she fell down on her backside.

"Time!" the instructor (Naruto didn't particularly care which one, but one of them) called for the one-on-one fighting to stop. Naruto simply turned away from the girl (Ino?) while she glared back at him.

Ino, meanwhile, took a moment to brush herself off (and try to tape together what remained of her pride) before strutting over to the group of girls huddled in the corner. As usual, Sakura stood to the back, although she had a pretty good reason, as she had been more than a little winded in her own fight with the dog boy, Kiba (well, he proclaimed to be a "dog boy", although he didn't even have a dog yet).

"I can't see why you like him," Ino hissed at the pink-haired girl, who looked up, startled slightly at the vehemence in her friend's voice.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Ino huffed and flung her pony-tail over her shoulder as gracefully as she could. "Your boyfriend over there," she thumbed over her shoulder. Instantly, Sakura blushed.

"H-he's not my boyfriend!" She stuttered in a hissed voice.

"No way!" Tia Inoue gasped. Sakura immediately looked like she wanted to melt into the grass. "She likes that freak?"

If Ino wouldn't have been so focused on downgrading the boy who had just beat her, she might have seen Sakura clench her fists a little more tightly.

"I mean, come on," Ino continued, unaware of her loud voice attracting the other girls who wanted to be "in" on all the "juicy" details. "He dresses like a girl when he practices away from the school," the other girls giggled rudely, "he doesn't take a shower half the time," she pinched her nose, "and look at that hair! Not to mention, he doesn't ever seem to be able to mold any chakra. The only thing he's good at is hitting everyone else, and half the class can beat him there too!"

Tia took a step towards a now thoroughly steaming Sakura and stuck her finger out, pushing her hard on the girl's forehead with one finger. "Well, forehead, what do you say to that? One loser liking another loser! You two are perfect for each other!"

Ino stopped at that and looked back, her snobbish anger melting to concern. The last thing she'd meant was for Sakura to be taken down like that. She turned to intervene when she heard something come from her pink-haired friend.

"What?" Tia asked, apparently having heard it too.

"I said, 'You're wrong'!" Sakura suddenly looked up with fire in her eyes. Ino blinked in surprise. "Just because you all," she gestured to the whole group, including the blond, who bristled slightly at being included with them, "have homes and a shower every morning doesn't make you a better ninja! Actually," she took a step forward, throwing an equally surprised Tia slightly off balance, "I've noticed that you're part of the half of the class that can't beat him! So you have a better life, and more chances to do things, and he's still better than you are!"

Tia's face darkened. "How dare you…" she started forward.

"Is there something wrong here?" the girls all stopped and turned around to look up at the last person they wanted to see at the moment.

"S-sensei," Sakura managed to squeak out, having reverted back to her normal, shy self.

"No, Sensei," Tia said haughtily, but shot a look at Sakura that said 'this isn't over'.

"Good," the older man nodded, either not seeing (unlikely) or ignoring the tension between the two girls. "Then why don't you show us how hard you've worked," he pointed to the field, where Chouji stood, looking rather bewildered at the girls.

"Yes, Sensei," Tia replied and walked away, her nose in the air. The teacher now turned his attention onto the fight, and the sparring match began.

Ino shook away the surprise and started forward, a smile crossing her lips. "Sakura, way to—"

"Don't!" Sakura hissed. Ino stopped, surprise embedded on her face for the second time in five minutes. "You're the one that started all of that, all because he beat you! You didn't have to say that kind of stuff about him behind his back! Do you do that with everyone?"

Ino's own look darkened. Had Sakura actually said that last part with a _scoff_? "If you can't handle me saying the truth, then why don't you just leave?"

"Fine," Sakura whipped her head around and stuck her nose in the air haughtily. Vaguely, Ino wondered where she'd gotten that from. "I will."

"Fine!" the blond said, a little more loudly than she'd intended.

"Ahem!" She heard the teacher clear his throat. After watching the other girl walk away, she turned herself and stalked over to one side of the yard, thumping down and sulking as she turned her attention rather forcefully to the next fight.

She didn't start to feel better until Sasuke came into the clearing…and even then, she didn't feel too much better.

The fact that Sasuke didn't look as happy as he normally did didn't help.

xXx

The kunai didn't even hit their mark every time. They did most of the time...but that wasn't good enough! He'd watched Itachi hit every mark right on the dot time after time. He'd throw the kunai in the air, and then alter their course with just one extra kunai, hitting even unseen marks with ease.

"No!" Sasuke growled out. Why couldn't he do it? Why was he so far behind? Why did he have to be second to that stupid dead last in stupid strategy? "Again!" With that, he stormed over to each and every target, pulling them out with a cry of frustration and anger, and finally stomping back to the original position.

"If I want to be just as good as Nii-san," he whispered to himself, "then I have to be able to do what he does…just in my own way." Of course, there were only so many ways you could throw a kunai and get a maximum efficiency. That was one reason he had wanted to come here and train: Kunai throwing happened to be one of the few areas he didn't mind following after his brother's footsteps. Besides, watching someone else do something made it easier for Sasuke to copy it, and he'd seen his brother do this several times. Maybe that said something for his lack of ability to copy, or the difficulty of this particular exercize.

Why wasn't anything he did ever good enough? Honestly, he could end up being the most outstanding student ever, and the most amazing ninja, and his parents would still hardly notice he existed. They were so focused on Itachi.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he tried to do everything like his older brother if his parents would like that more. Well, they probably would, but for some reason, he knew they still wouldn't see him. They'd only see Itachi, because he was just that good.

To be seen, really seen and not left alone, Sasuke would have to find his own style…but that didn't seem to want to come to him.

He cursed again as even more of the kunai missed their marks.

He stalked over to each target once more, and practically tore the kunai from their trunks. "Again!"

xXx

"Sasuke?" the younger boy looked up to see his brother sitting on the edge of the walk way around the outside of their house as he came around the corner. Itachi could easily see several scratches and bruises that his younger brother had bandaged up (rather sloppily) himself, if he'd managed to get around to treating the wound at all. For a moment the two stared at each other, before Itachi waved his hand at the younger boy, signaling for him to come forward.

Wordlessly (for once), Sasuke walked over and sat down by his brother, not really wanting to talk about what had happened for the previous days, and yet wanting to say everything he possibly could at the same time.

Finally, he opened his mouth. "Mom and Dad don't see me. They like you better," he said.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and looked down at his brother. "That isn't true…" he faded off when he saw his brother's unusually somber expression. "They're giving you a hard time, then? Am I that unpleasant to you?"

"No!" Sasuke responded instantly, "That's not…I mean…I…" he faded off himself, not really sure what he did mean.

"It's okay," Itachi grinned (an unusual occurrence in and of itself). "Shinobi usually live as hated people because they're said to be a problem."

Sasuke blinked, his eyebrows knitting together. "I don't hate you, Onii-san," he said softly.

Itachi simply went on. "To be top-notch is really something to think about. To have strength means you become isolated, and arrogant," his voice quieted down a little. "Although at first, you only sought your dream."

Sasuke didn't exactly know what to say to that. Somehow it fit with the conversation, and with Itachi…but he felt that this was something that ran far deeper than just them.

"You and I," Itachi continued, "we're unique siblings," he looked down. "In order to overcome our barriers, you and I have to continue to live together, even if it means hating each other, or missing each other. That's what being an older brother mean—"

He got cut off by a loud crashing of the front door as it literally slammed open, probably ruining the sliding panels. "Where is Itachi!" someone from that general direction bellowed. "Come out now! We need to talk!"

Sasuke blinked, his natural curiosity momentarily overcoming his concern for his brother, momentarily because as soon as he saw how angry the three Uchihas standing at the door were, he couldn't help but want to shy away.

Itachi, however, walked out as calmly as ever. "What is it, everyone?" he asked. Sasuke wondered how he could suddenly act so reserved.

"Two men never came to the meeting last night," the darker, younger one said. "Why were you missing?"

Itachi's face darkened, although he didn't look like he hadn't been expecting this. So he didn't go to the meeting after all, Sasuke thought from the doorway where he hid. Somehow, he'd been able to pick up the idea of hiding recently. It had suddenly just come to him, like he'd known how to do so in a previous life or something, so he waited by the door, fully hidden, and yet fully able to view the scene.

"I can understand that you've been occupied with various missions and jobs," the man continued on. What was his name again? Sasuke couldn't remember for the life of him. "Your father also told us that, and he's been covering for you, however," he paused for a moment and Sasuke held his breath, hearing a really ugly "but" in that unfinished sentence. "We have no intention of treating you any differently…" he let the threat hang as a warning, even Sasuke could see that.

After a few seconds, Itachi tipped his head downwards in a slight bow. "I understand," he said smoothly, "I'll be more careful in the future. Now please leave." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brother's own bluntness.

"Very well," the older one spoke again, "but before we do…" Sasuke had a bad feeling about this, "we have one more question you need to answer." Itachi looked up, his face showing just the slightest touch of confusion. "It regards the suicide by drowning last night in the Nakano river of Uchiha Shisui."

The young eavesdropper gasped. Shisui? Dead? By suicide? But why? Why would…he stopped his train of thought when he saw his brother's eyes narrow.

The younger man spoke up again. "The other man that did not show up was Shisui. We know that you considered Shisui as a true brother…" this guy seemed to like leaving sentences hanging.

Sasuke looked to Itachi, who suddenly had an aura of sadness and depression about him. "I see," he said softly. "I haven't met with him recently…it is sad to hear."

The man reached down into a pouch around his waist. "We have decided to investigate this fully."

Itachi's head snapped up. "Investigate?!"

The older man took the note and held it out. "This is the suicide note. We've already confirmed that it is indeed Shisui's handwriting."

"If it is suicide," Itachi said slowly, "then what is there to investigate?" Carefully he took the piece of paper and read it. Sasuke strained, trying unsuccessfully to catch a glimpse of what it said.

"He was feared as 'Shisui of the Mirage' and was one of the most talented Uchiha," the gray-haired man ignored Itachi's question. "He would have taken any mission for the clan. I doubt a man like that would leave something like this, something that says the 'Uchiha have no future', behind and die."

"It is not wise to judge others by your preconceptions and their appearances," was all Itachi said, although his voice had taken on a dark tone.

"We're leaving that to you," the younger man said, his own voice darkening slightly. "Take it to ANBU and request that they investigate as well."

Itachi nodded sharply. "Understood."

The men shifted and turned to leave. Sasuke let out the breath he'd been holding for what seemed like the twentieth time.

"I sincerely hope there is other evidence," the gray haired man spoke, not even bothering to turn around.

"We, the police force, have other connections to the ANBU as well," the other dark-haired man who had not yet opened his mouth now chose to speak. "If you try anything, we'll know right away." With that, an overbearing, invisible tension descended suddenly, stifling any relief that had filled the room.

Itachi clenched his fists. "Why don't you be more direct?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet. All three men stopped and turned around, their eyes now the sharp red of Sharingan. Sasuke's eyes widened, willing himself to not panic and he glanced up at his brother, only to see the bloodline limit returning the three men's gaze.

"So you are suspicious of me?"

"Yes, Brat," the third man growled.

"Listen, Itachi," the first man turned fully again to face the prodigy. "If you betray the clan, you will not go unpunished!"

Sasuke started again, vaguely wondering if his mind could really take all of this shock. Itachi would never betray the clan...would he? Then, suddenly, Itachi moved faster than Sasuke's eyes could follow. He heard clashes of kunai and the thudding of limb meeting limb, although again he could barely see. Luckily, he caught the blurs heading out of the door and jumped forward, forgetting to hide again. He brushed the realization aside as soon as he thought of it. Techniques like that were useless against the Sharingan anyways. They'd all known Sasuke had been there to begin with.

When he reached the door, he saw the three men laying on the ground, and Itachi barely standing himself. All of them looked thoroughly out of breath to say the least.

"As I said," he heard Itachi rasp, "Don't judge others by your preconceptions and their appearances." He stood, looking slightly more dignified, and far more dangerous than he had only moments before. "You assumed I had patience," he continued. Then his voice turned mocking: "The clan, the clan. You all fail to measure your own capacity, and fail to grasp the depth of mine. As a result, you lie beaten here."

The gray haired man seemed to recover first, pushing himself up onto his hands. "Shisui was told to keep an eye on you! Within six months of your entrance into ANBU, your actions and words became stranger than ever," he turned to glare up at the younger Uchiha. "What exactly are you thinking?!

Itachi's voice took on a menacing hiss. "You hold onto the organization, the clan, your name…these things limit us and our capacities. They deserve to be shunned. It is foolish to fear what we have yet to see and know!"

Sasuke wondered if they were speaking in some sort of code, because he couldn't understand any of what they were saying. What did Itachi mean, 'the organization' and why did it deserve to be shunned? Why was he acting this way instead of telling them the truth; that he didn't kill Shisui?!

"Stop, Itachi!" Everyone in the compound turned to see Uchiha Fugaku standing with several more men at the entrance into the yard. Immediately everything seemed to freeze. "Stop it, already," the clan leader said in a calmer voice. "What in the world is wrong, Itachi? You've been acting strangely lately."

If Fugaku's words reached Itachi, he didn't show any sign of it. "I'm just carrying out my duty," was all he said, in his emotionless voice.

"Then why did you not come last night?" Fugaku asked.

Itachi didn't seem to hear him, instead his voice faded to a mutter Sasuke could barely hear. "In order to reach the height…"

"What?" his father took a step forward, but stopped when Itachi suddenly withdrew a kunai and launched it at one of the red and white fans that had been painted on the exterior wall of the yard. Everyone's eyes followed that, and then turned menacingly back on Itachi.

"…of my capacity," Itachi continued, finishing his earlier sentence. "I've lost all hope for this pathetic clan." Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hadn't Itachi said that it was an honor to be in the police force? That the Uchiha were superior shinobi? Sasuke could not seem to grasp what was happening.

"You forget what's truly important because you cling to your precious clan. True change cannot be made if it is bound by laws, limitations and predictions."

"What arrogance!" one of the men behind the clan head ground out between his teeth.

Suddenly, the line that Itachi had just said came back to Sasuke's mind. "When someone becomes powerful, they become arrogant and isolated." He felt kind of shocked at that, surprised that he'd be able to remember something like that, even at a time like this. Normally, he wouldn't be able to remember half of the moves they made, let alone—

"Enough already!" someone yelled, cutting off Sasuke's thoughts, or at least bringing them back from the little tangent they'd gone on. Did Itachi feel that alone because he was that talented? "If you keep this up," another man threatened, "we'll have to arrest you!"

The group of men (now rejoined by their once fallen comrades) faced off with Itachi for what seemed to Sasuke like forever.

Finally, someone spoke again. "So," someone in the group, Sasuke couldn't see who, "what now?"

"We can't put up with you anymore!" the second guy from earlier spoke up, looking angrier than ever. "Captain, order an arrest!"

Sasuke's blood froze. His brother, arrested? They couldn't…they'd take him away, and then Sasuke would be alone! For some reason, that uprooted a fear far greater than any other he'd ever imagined, and he hadn't even realized he'd stepped out the door before he heard his own voice yelling across the compound:

"Brother! Stop!"

Everyone except Itachi turned to look at this new distraction before turning back to their face off with Itachi. When they did look back, most of them had to do double takes. They hadn't seen Itachi flinch at his little brother's voice. Nor had they seen all the anger seem to drain out of him as he landed on his knees. All they saw was a groveling Itachi at their feet.

"It is not me who has killed Shisui," he said quietly, "but for the words I have spoken today, I am truly sorry." He bent his head down even lower (although Sasuke had wondered if that were even possible) to show his penitence. Every single man there looked like they'd just been sucker-punched at this new turn of events, and no one seemed to know how to handle it.

Fugaku finally sighed, breaking the silence. "He has been under so much stress lately. The ANBU has worn him out."

The second guy (Sasuke really didn't like him) whipped his head around to look at his leader.

"Captain!" he said, his voice disbelieving.

"An ANBU is a battalion directly under the Hokage. We cannot arrest him without an official order. Besides," his shoulders seemed to sag ever so slightly, "I will take full responsibility for my son's words." Sasuke blinked. He'd never seen his stoic, could-be-carved-from-stone father act like this. "Please," he added on, a touch of desperation coloring his tone.

"Understood, sir," the man turned away, looking thoroughly unhappy with how the situation had played out. Most of the other men looked as if they shared in his sentiment.

Fugaku turned his back on the battalion, and began walking towards Sasuke. "Itachi, let's go back inside."

Sasuke looked up at his father as the man walked by, but the older man showed now sign of saying anything. Blinking, Sasuke turned to look back at Itachi, and gasped. The sharingan in his eyes had changed to something he'd never seen before…

xXx

Over the next few days, the tension in the house never seemed to completely dissipate. While Sasuke wondered what on earth had happened to his brother to make the Sharingan look like that, he also noticed that his father and his brother barely acknowledged the other's existence.

After almost a week had gone by, this hadn't changed at all. Sasuke observed his father as he watched the older man and Itachi walk right by each other as if the other didn't exist. Unfortunately, they did exist, which meant that they'd had to alter their paths almost imperceptibly so as not to collide. As such, Fugaku had put himself directly on the path for running into Sasuke.

Instead of going around him like normal, the older man slowed and then stopped, looking down, as if seeing his younger son for the first time.

Sasuke mustered up the biggest smile he could manage. "Ohaio, Otou-san," he grinned out.

"Oh," Fugaku blinked instead of rolling his eyes like Sasuke had imagined he would. "Good morning. How have things been going at the academy lately?"

Sasuke couldn't help but feel as if a little weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. His father was talking to him…actually talking to him. It felt more than a little refreshing.

"I'm the best, still," he said happily.

"Even in Senjutsu?" Sasuke's eyes suddenly lowered.

"I am doing better, Otou san," he said softly.

His father regarded him for a moment before turning and stepping down onto the grass. Sasuke hadn't been expecting that. "Let me show you something," Fugaku said.

Sasuke didn't need to be told twice. With a large grin, he hopped off of the wooden planks, and ran after his father's retreating back.

He led him to the edge of the pier in the pond they had at the back of the yard. The next thing that Sasuke knew, his father had blown the largest fireball he'd ever seen out of his mouth, causing a wave of heat to come careening over the edge of the water that now reflected the dancing orange and red, looking to be on fire itself.

Fugaku explained that it was a basic ninjutsu for Uchiha who usually had fire-natured chakra, and that an Uchiha wasn't considered an adult until he could use the following technique, or something equivalent to it. After that, he stood to the side, and gestured to the edge of the pier. Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. He'd seen the signs, and he did remember them. It didn't look particularly difficult, as only about five had been used, and even he could remember that.

Holding back a gulp, Sasuke walked forward, and eagerly formed the seals. After he was sure he'd gotten them right, he took in a deep breath, and blew outward, hoping for something even bigger than what his father…

His thought faded off when he saw that nothing, not even a puff of smoke, had exited his mouth.

He looked down in confusion, and tried it once more. Nothing happened again. Blinking and blushing in shame, he turned and looked up at his father, who had an equally perplexed look on his face.

"Father," Sasuke started, but Fugaku cut him off.

"That shouldn't have happened," he said.

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"You did everything correctly, you should have gotten something from that, unless…" he paused for a moment, thinking in his mind.

Sasuke couldn't help but ask. "Unless what, father?"

"Unless you have different chakra nature," he muttered, half to himself, half to his son. After a few seconds, he looked down at the child again, and that quickly, his eyes blinked into the red of Sharingan. "I doubt they've covered this in class, but everyone has an affinity or chakra nature. Most Uchihas have Fire, as I said. You, however, don't…I wonder why..." To say he looked utterly perplexed could be compared to calling the sky big. Sasuke had never seen more than hints of emotion from his father, so he couldn't help but feel confused himself, half of him catching onto his father's bewilderment, half from observing his father's easily read expression.

"I copied this technique from a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village," Fugaku said suddenly, his hands already forming the signs. Suddenly, almost the entire pond exploded into the air, whipping and twirling around in amazing show of what promised to be a very dangerous water technique. "Can you follow that?"

Sasuke nodded, and followed the hand-seals as precisely as he could. Then, he imitated his father's motion, hoping for something—anything…but again, nothing happened.

"Very well," Fugaku rubbed his chin, and then went into another series of seals. A bolt of lighting shot out from his finger, incinerating a nearby bush, nearly causing Sasuke to fall into the water in the showy process. Yet again, when Sasuke tried it, he had no luck.

"Let us try this one, then," he said. "I learned this from one of our local ninja." There were fewer hand seals this time (for which Sasuke was thankful, he was having a hard enough time as it was—five he could handle, but all of these were starting to blend together in his eyes), but what resulted nearly knocked him off of his feet.

A great gale similar looking to that of a miniature tornado sprang to life in the middle of the pond, throwing water and wind everywhere.

"But," Sasuke said when it had subsided, "I thought we already tried water…"

Fugaku sighed. "Sasuke, what are the five elements?"

"Water, Fire, Earth, Wind and Lightning," he answered, counting them off on his fingers. Sometimes he forgot one if he didn't do that.

"What caused the water to splash everywhere just now?"

"Wind…oh," he suddenly put everything together and looked sheepish.

Fugaku simply sighed and turned away, his sharingan now fading back to his normal dark irises. "You're obviously not ready for this."

"Father," Sasuke said desperately, "please tell me," he tried to use the most respectful voice he could. "Tell me how to do that."

Fugaku turned around, looking skeptical, but seemed to break at his son's determined look. 'Those blue eyes,' he thought, 'it's something about them; I know it is.'

"You gather as much chakra as you can into your hand, and then immediately throw it back out. Add a little bit of a spin, or you'll just get a tiny wind. Wind based attacks can build themselvs up, and that is what this was based off of. After that, you have to be able to maintain just the right amount of chakra or it will spin out of control."

"Right," Sasuke turned around, his mind already forming around this new information. Normally he didn't listen to what anyone else really had to say, but right now, his father was looking at him—at Sasuke. He wasn't looking at him as the 'second oldest' or even 'the youngest'. He wasn't seeing someone who wasn't as good as Itachi, but a boy who was trying his best. Fugaku looked at Sasuke like he could eventually be the leader of the village...like he was worth something.

Sasuke was bound and determined to get this one right…that was, if this was his element. They'd gone through four of five, and maybe he was more attuned to rocks and such…

He threw his hand out and waited expectantly. The only thing he saw, were several ripples leading away from him and the pier. He paused for a moment until he heard his father's footsteps on the wooden planks.

"Father," he said, "can't you teach me an Earth Jutsu?"

"There is no point," the retreating figure said. "You have a wind-based nature. It was simply too early to show you. It is sad that you will not be able to master the Uchiha Family Trait of Katon until you awaken your Sharingan."

With that, Sasuke watched as he walked away again. For a moment he felt himself deflate, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. Strangely, though, he didn't feel upset so much as he felt a solid determination harden inside of him.

"I'll show you," he said. "I'm worth seeing."

With that he turned and began to practice the technique again.


	13. Just Grasping It

"Naruto!" The Jinchuuriki sighed. Did everyone have to say his name like that? He turned and watched as the third walked up to him, a stern look crossing his face. "I told you not to wear your shirt like that!"

Naruto looked down at the belly shirt as if to regard it for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, you did."

"Then why—"

"Because it's who I am," he interrupted, aware but not caring about his rudeness towards the Hokage himself. Normally his own emotionless state had him pass off as polite, but really he just didn't care. When he even started to get an inkling of emotion, he had no problems letting it show. "I don't want to hide the seal."

"Why not?" the Third looked sadly down at the blond boy.

Naruto shrugged and turned to throw another kunai. "Because everyone already knows about me. It's pointless."

The Sandaime shook his head. "So this is how you keep people away? By scaring them? Do you honestly think that you won't get hurt that way?"

Naruto threw another kunai, and it hit almost directly on the mark. "No," he said, a smile creeping over his face. "I just like the looks on people's faces when they see it."

The third froze at those words and watched as the boy threw kunai after kunai before going to gather them up again. He took delight in something like that? Was the fox's nature affecting him, or should he just brush it off as his own teenage nature coming through? He also didn't seem to be quite as respectful lately.

"Well, I have to leave," he said slowly, "but please keep in mind that the more people know about your seal, the more some people will seek after you."

"Yeah." _Thud._ The kunai hit its mark, only two or three rings out. He felt the old man leave him alone to practice, and paused. "Maybe those people wouldn't hate me," he muttered, and continued to throw the kunai.

xXx

"Otou-san," Fugaku stopped walking along the wooden platform around his home, and turned to look at his youngest son. The young boy, looking rather pleased with himself, came running up to his father, putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Why would he need to catch his breath? And he looked like he hadn't slept in days, although Fugaku knew that couldn't be true, he'd checked on the boy himself only the night before…twice. His son had been sprawled on the bed, snoring like there was no tomorrow. He'd even commented on the lack of dignity and stealth (even in sleep) to his wife.

Fugaku didn't say anything, and Sasuke read the signal to continue cautiously correctly…for once.

"Please, Otou-san! Come with me!"

Suddenly, Fugaku understood. The boy had come from the direction of the lake. Apparently he'd been working at the jutsu since he'd showed him only the previous evening. That would explain his disheveled look…well, more so than normal in any case.

"No," he sighed. "It's still too early for you. Even if I taught you for a week, it would be the same."

"No," Sasuke paused, then seemed to give up whatever he was thinking about, and chose to plead. "I got the jutsu, and I want you to see…Please!"

Fugaku sighed inwardly at those blue eyes again. "I will come," he said, "but you should act more dignified, as an Uchiha should." Despite his father's admonition, Sasuke's eyes lit up, and that fox-like grin broke his face nearly in half.

It only took them a few minutes to walk down to the pier. "You wait here," Sasuke turned to look up at his father happily, ignoring or not seeing the disapproving look at the boy's energetic happiness. They'd only come down about half the length of the pier, and Fugaku had decided to stop there anyway, so he complied. Satisfied, his son turned and ran to the edge of the platform. Didn't he ever run out of energy?

Then he took a deep breath, and calmed himself somewhat. Fugaku saw the seals the boy used, the correct ones of course, but wind was a difficult element to touch on, even if this was one of the easier…

He faded off, and his eyes went wide when he saw the size of the tornado created, far larger than the one he'd shown his son. Water went everywhere as the wind caught it and flung it about at incredible speeds, and even Fugaku found himself taking a step back so as to drop into a more defensive stance.

Then, it vanished, and the boy turned around, that same grin still on his pale, hopeful face. "So, how was that, father?"

Fugaku steeled his face and turned away, walking firmly back across the pier. He literally felt Sasuke's disappointment and depression behind him, and stopped. "Perhaps you are my child after all," although with the wind nature, he had to wonder.

Sasuke looked up, barely daring to hope. "From now on, you may shamelessly wear the family crest on your back. For you, it will be the wind that adds to the fire, making it stronger than ever before. You must now improve, and then you can soar to great heights."

Sasuke's grin returned in full force. "Hai, Otou-san!" he practically bellowed.

His father began walking again, but again he stopped. "Also, I will say one more thing," the older man's voice had quieted considerably, not that he had been speaking loudly to begin with, so Sasuke almost had to strain to hear. "Don't follow after your brother."

That confused the blue-eyed boy. He'd never really wanted to follow "after" his brother.

"H-hai," he said, wondering if he should let his father know his true intentions from the beginning or not. Fugaku made up his mind for him though, walking steadily. Sasuke watched his back, still blinking in confusion. Were things really that bad between Itachi and the rest of the family…and why did he have such a bad feeling about this?

Neither saw the dark figure watching with a face that looked far too old for the teenage frame from a window of the house overlooking the pond. "Wind?" Itachi blinked. That topped the list of unexpected from Sasuke, which was not small. "How unusual."

xXx

"Wind?" Mokoto didn't know if she felt more surprised at that news or the fact she knew where this conversation was headed. "Are you certain?"

His expression didn't change, but she knew him well enough to know he wanted to ask if she thought he was stupid. "He could perform a wind technique almost flawlessly."

Mokoto turned away, blinking and trying to absorb this information. Even Itachi couldn't work with more than his original chakra nature at that age. There wasn't any possible way that Sasuke was hiding something. But then how…?

"Blue eyes, wind nature. Is he even an Uchiha?" Well, Mokoto had to admit, she'd seen that one coming.

She sighed and turned to Fugaku. "Do you honestly believe I would do that?"

"I would have hoped you wouldn't," he said. She read between the lines and heard his unsaid 'but the evidence suggests otherwise'. She didn't really know what to say. Of course she hadn't done anything. Uchiha didn't look lightly on women who "cheated", and came down even harder on the child.

Finally, she opened her mouth to voice this, but he held up his hand. "If I have any serious doubts, we can have a chakra test done, but such events are trivial at this time." Mokoto felt her fists clench. Of course the plans of the Uchiha clan would come over…she paused in her thinking. That train of thought was dangerous. She couldn't go against the clan and keep her children safe, no matter how her conscience hated her for it.

Her sons came first.

Period.

"Konoha," she whispered after her husband had left the room. "I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me."

xXx

Sasuke studied the floor of his room as his feet fell silently on the wooden floorboards. He'd been there for almost an hour, unable to do anything but pace. If he were anyone else, he'd probably lay on his bed to think about it, but he'd never been one to take things "lying down". He always felt that if he had something he needed to work out in his head, he had to walk around to do it, no matter how tired he felt.

Why was Itachi suddenly acting so strange? Why did his parents suddenly seem to completely ignore the older boy? What was going on?! He felt like he'd missed something, but what?

He paused in his pacing and glanced over at the door. Well, he could try to do something, or he could just sit here…

In an instant, he'd opened the door, and sprinted down towards his brother's room. The door had been left open, which meant he wasn't there. Usually, if he had left by this time, it meant he would be in the front hall preparing for an upcoming mission or something like that. His mother confirmed his suspicions, and he approached the front hall with more than a little trepidation. As he approached, he slowed down, making sure to slow his breath, trying to act as naturally as he could. He didn't realize that other people saw "normal" for him as practically a typhoon…except with more energy. Unbeknownst to him, Itachi knew something was off before he'd even opened the door.

"Nii-san?" Itachi had to refrain from beating his head in. Was Sasuke _trying_ to act suspicious?

"What?"

"Could you…" Sasuke had to stop himself from gulping. He had to come up with something that wouldn't make Itachi think he was uneasy. "Could you…help me train with shrukien today?"

Itachi turned from the bag he'd been packing. "You hardly ever ask me to train with you."

"Yes, I have!" he objected. The day he'd twisted his ankle he'd asked to train with Itachi, Kunai and weapon throwing of course. He'd also asked a handful of other times, although usually Itachi refused after—

Sasuke broke off his train of thought when he saw his brother motion for him to come closer. With a nod, he complied, rushing over the floor towards his older brother. He hadn't gotten to within two feet when his brother reached out and tapped him hard on the head.

"Forgive me, Sasuke," Itachi said. "I don't have time to look after you today."

The smaller boy suddenly felt himself torn between relief that his brother was acting normally (that's how he always refused, after tapping him on the head like that) and the insinuation that he needed looking after.

"I don't need anyone to look after me!" he grumbled, watching his brother's back as the older boy walked out of the room. Itachi didn't turn around, and Sasuke huffed, folding his arms. That's when he saw the crack in the fan symbol on the wall as Itachi turned out of the way—the crack where Itachi's kunai had stuck only days before…

For once, Sasuke didn't say anything, his mood sobering immediately.

xXx

Sakura paused before she turned the corner, pressing her back against the high fence. She knew exactly what waited for her. Tia and her stupid little pack of friends had given her nothing but trouble for the last several days, and since she and Ino were still fighting, it became almost impossible to make it back to her house unscathed (they normally didn't dare attack both girls when they walked together). The last thing she needed today was another beating from those wannabe ninjas. Normally, she felt like she could take them, but with more than four or five different girls…. She took another deep breath, readying herself, and clutching the straps of backpack she normally wore to school tightly.

Finally she just sighed and slumped. Better get this over with. The sooner she got home, the sooner she'd get bandaged up. Besides, she wasn't about to go down without a fight. The other girls would have to get fixed up themselves.

She was so focused on her thoughts, she almost didn't notice the figure dressed in dark blue and black walk by her and turn the corner. As he passed her, she blinked and turned to look just as he disappeared. That quickly, a thought came to her, and she leaped after him.

"N-naruto-kun!" she said, feeling her cheeks flush.

The boy stopped and turned around, confusion coloring his features. Apparently, he wasn't used to people calling out to him. "What?"

"A-ano…could…I-I mean would you mind if I walked with you?" She knew her face had grown almost as red as her family's main color, but stayed firm in her spot, unable to look him in the eyes, but unwilling to back down.

After several seconds, she heard him shift and looked up to see him shrug nonchalantly. "Whatever."

A huge grin washed over her face, and she nodded happily. "Thank you!"

She didn't just get home without having to try and fight off any of those stupid girls, but she also found herself walking heaven. She'd talked to him, and walked with him, and he didn't mind! She sighed happily and fell back against the door of her home, closing it completely.

"Sakura? Is that you?" a woman's voice from the kitchen called out.

"Hai!" the pink-haired girl grinned and ran off to help her mother with dinner and chores, for once totally willing to do so. Nothing could ruin her day now.

* * *

Here's a shout out to all of my readers. If you've made it this far...bless you. hug I really hope you like it. If you've sent me a beta-reading response, I'll probably get back to you this week, but I want to give any of my betas who used to do this before I went down to Florida and had my life sucked away by a slow internet connection, a mouse (that runs his own people trap) and a dead computer. Thank you again!


	14. The Massacre

Sasuke sat, looking at his breakfast quietly while Mokoto washed the morning dishes. For what seemed like the hundredth time, she turned and looked at Sasuke over her shoulder. Normally his incessant chatter helped her to (strangely enough) focus on her morning chores, and it had become something she really looked forward to every morning. To have it suddenly so quiet put her nerves on edge, and with everything going on, that was the last thing she needed.

She endured the stifling silence for as long as she could, but it wasn't long before she couldn't handle it anymore. Just as she went to turn around and ask her son exactly what was wrong, he finally opened his mouth.

"Kaa-san," he said softly. She paused and blinked, but did nothing except turn around to let him know he had her attention. "Why did everyone want me to be just like Itachi?"

Mokoto raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. Was that what had been bothering him all morning?

"What brought that on?" she asked as she reached for a towel to wipe her hands on.

"Father. He just told me that I was his son, and not to follow after Itachi," Sasuke smiled. "He never acknowledged me before."

The dark haired mother smiled. "Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"Are things that bad between Itachi and Father?" His head lowered just the tiniest bit more, "and am I just a replacement for him?"

Understanding clicked in Mokoto's mind. "Your brother is your brother, and you are you," she said softly, and walked over the floorboards, still sprinkled with crumbs from breakfast.

"Then why?" Sasuke asked, his voice rising in frustration. "Why does everyone expect me to be just like him?!"

A thoughtful look passed over Mokoto's face. "Well, Itachi is the older of you two boys, so he is going to inherit leadership of the clan." She paused and knelt down by the table before continuing. "Maybe some people think that if you are just like Itachi, if something happens to your brother then you'll be able to lead the clan. That's also why your father may seem like he spends more attention on him."

"If something like that did happen," Sasuke said slowly, realizing how horrible something like that would really be, "then couldn't I lead the clan my way?"

Mokoto laughed and stood up, ruffling her son's hair as she did so. "I'm sure you would, little one, oh," she glanced around as if looking for someone listening in on their conversation, "let me tell you a secret." She grinned and leaned down towards Sasuke, gesturing for him to lean in more. "When it's just your father and me here, he only talks about you, and how different you are from your brother." He didn't need to know that half of it wasn't praise now, did he?

Sasuke's face suddenly lit up. "Really?" he asked.

Mokoto giggled a bit and nodded in confirmation. She loved her son's smile. It could bring light to the darkest depths of the ocean, and always brightened her day. She also loved how he couldn't help but spread that sunshine.

"If more people treat me like that, then I'll be able to become Hokage!" Sasuke grinned.

Mokoto blinked. That was new.

"You'll…Hokage?" she asked.

Sasuke's smile widened. "Yeah, I want to become Hokage! That way everyone will know who I am, and I can protect them too!"

The door suddenly clicking open had both heads turning in the direction of the kitchen entrance. Fugaku Uchiha walked calmly, if stiffly, over to the table and sat down, not even mentioning the conversation he'd walked in on. That either spoke volumes of his disapproval, or of how distracted he'd become recently. The uneasiness Sasuke's mother had been able to disperse came crashing back down on him as he watched his stoic father.

Mokoto quickly walked back to the counter, and poured a steaming cup of coffee, then placed it before her husband with a smile before returning to the dishes, only too aware of the heavy atmosphere's return. Her movement didn't even really seem to bring him out of his thoughts, leaving the kitchen in silence once again.

What was going on, really? Sasuke had a feeling that the situation ran deeper than he realized, and he hated it. Like those eyes, the eyes that Itachi had suddenly gotten; sharingan-like, but very different and full of...something., and whatever that something was, Sasuke didn't like it. What were those?

"Father," he asked suddenly. Fugaku looked up from his mug and over at his youngest son. "Are there different types of Sharingan?" He didn't quite know where that question had come from. It just seemed to pop into his mind. He'd never really considered that Sharingan could be any different.

The Uchiha head raised an eyebrow, although Sasuke couldn't quite read the expression. "So now you want to know about Sharingan? Why? It's still too early for you. It isn't something as simple as the jutsu I taught you earlier."

Sasuke's smile retreated into a frown as he digested this new information. "But I will gain it," he replied stubbornly, "and I want to know about it! It'll be apart of me too!"

Fugaku regarded his son for a moment, the firm expression on the child's face never even moving for a moment. How was it that the boy could bounce all of the room at any random moment, and yet he wouldn't let a single facial muscle move at times like this?

Finally, he let out a sigh and decided to just give in. "Yes, there is a higher level of Sharingan," he started before going on to tell Sasuke about Mangekeyou, purposefully leaving it vague. Even in the Uchiha some innocence was respected.

"What special conditions?" Sasuke asked. Fugaku sighed. So much for that plan.

"You'll learn when you're older," he said. "Don't ask again. Not me, and not Itachi." It didn't come out harsh, but Sasuke looked surprised and a little hurt none the less.

"Itachi wouldn't tell me anyway," Sasuke pouted, "he never wants to spend time with me anymore."

Fugaku shifted on his cushion, unable to really ignore the look on Sasuke's face. The boy had grown very worried about his brother, the Uchiha clan head concluded and looked up.

"He's changed a little recently," the man said slowly. "And he's never been the type to make friends. Still," Sasuke studied his father as he spoke. He rarely heard his father speak in these kinds of tones. "As his father, it's my job to try and understand."

Sasuke didn't know why he suddenly found himself smiling again. Something about that last sentence seemed to warm up the whole room…well, the whole property for that matter, almost completely dissipating that continuous tension that had been there for so long.

"Alright, here's your lunch," Mokoto set a bag full of food in front of Sasuke and leaned over to kiss him goodbye. "See you after shrukien practice!"

"Hai!" Sasuke grinned, not really noticing as he usually did that she'd said 'practice' when she was supposed to say 'training'.

As he ran out the door, one thought suddenly struck him. If something did happen to Itachi (he still didn't like that thought!), Sasuke really would have to inherit the clan-head position. From what he'd been told, both the clan-head and Hokage were very demanding jobs…which meant Sasuke didn't want to have both of them. But then again, what could hurt Itachi? He'd graduated from the academy at 7, awoken his sharingan at 8, and after he turned 10 he became a chunin; practically unheard of.

So, if something went wrong, who could save him? If someone could take down Itachi when he'd become so strong, what could Sasuke do about it?

"I'll just have to become stronger than ever," Sasuke said out loud, feeling his resolve harden with those words. His feet thudded as they hit the pavement and he passed the rest of the Uchiha clan on his way to the main gate. "I have to be strong enough to protect everyone…even Itachi."

xXx

_Thud. Thud. Thud. _Sasuke continued to throw his kunai at the school practice boards, despite the fact that almost everyone had long since gone home. Naruto had ditched him again too, which meant he had to do this alone. Stupid dobe.

On the bright side, Sasuke had just seen his report card, and he'd finally been able reach the top placement for Senjutsu. He could see the look on his father…well, his father would probably not change his look at all, but his mother would tell him how amazing he was, and might even get him a treat. Really he didn't need it, and that wasn't his motivation, but he wasn't about to complain either.

He heard a slight movement behind him, and paused for a moment to look over his shoulder, just in time to see the Hyuuga girl disappear around the corner of the fence. He turned to face the direction she'd disappeared in and scratched his head. Did she want to use the practice boards that much to stick around that long? And if so, why didn't she just say so? The only reason he could think of with her not wanting to tell him she wanted to practice too (there was more than one board) was that she'd become too embarrassed to practice in front of everyone else. He could see that from someone as shy as her. She seemed to go red in the face every time he talked to her since the day he'd accidentally knocked into her.

"Girls are weird," he muttered, and turned back to the targets.

xXx

"I'm really late tonight," Sasuke hissed to himself, worry covering his features as he ran through the darkened streets. Ahead of him, the gates of the compound came into view. Strangely enough, they had been left open. That almost never happened, but Sasuke didn't think much about it, instead thankful that there was all that much less time he'd have to waste getting home.

Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye just as he reached the gate. He glanced up to the top of a telephone pole that had been placed just inside the gate, and swore he saw someone sitting atop of it, silhouetted against the overly large moon. He slowed down for a moment and looked again, only to see the telephone pole and the moon. Nothing sat atop of the pole…but that didn't stop Sasuke's sudden uneasiness.

"Something's wrong," he whispered to himself, and reached out to pull the compound gate open.

The sight that met his eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life. The normally quiet and clean compound had been littered with bodies. People lay in the streets, some looking as if they'd been killed as they ran, others looking as if they'd fallen in battle. Splashes of a dark substance that reflected the moon from a shiny, wet surface had been splashed everywhere.

"What the…" Sasuke felt his breath catch in his throat. "What is this?!" He could recognize the faces of some of the people, all of them Uchihas that he passed and talked to almost every day. Some of them were ninjas and part of the police force.

Suddenly his stomach knotted into a lump of ice. If even such amazing ninja had fallen to this, then what about his family? Without even thinking of the repercussions, he dashed down the street towards his house. "Mother," he breathed, "Father! Brother!"

He didn't pay attention to those he passed in the streets, knowing that it was already too late for them. But maybe, just maybe he could get home in time to do something for his father and mother. Maybe they didn't know yet. The fact that his father would be the first person informed in this kind of emergency, or the fact that the clan-head was far stronger than Sasuke could really imagine didn't occur to the young boy. All that he cared about was his family, seeing their faces; seeing them alive.

He jumped over the railing and thudded towards the living room, skidding to a stop in front of the double doors. Not daring to hope, he reached out and pulled the doors open, then waited a moment for his eyes to adjust from the bright moonlight.

It only took a few seconds, but it felt like forever, and he almost wished it had taken longer. On the floor in the center of the room lay his mother and father. Even from this distance he could tell that they weren't breathing.

"Mother! Father!" he yelled, then his voice died down. "No," he whispered, and went to take a step forward. That's when he noticed the third figure in the room…the man who stood with his face in the shadows, standing over the bodies.

For the first time that night, Sasuke's sense of self preservation kicked in, and he realized just what kind of a situation he'd gotten himself into. Here was a man who could kill elite ninja, and he'd thought he could do something. What kind of an idiot was he? And here, he was facing off with the killer himself.

The boy caught his breath and stepped back, unwilling to go any further, although he desperately wanted to go to his parent's sides.

He studied the face in the darkness as his eyes finished adjusting, and again wished that he'd simply been unable to see.

The murderer who stood over his parents bodies stood looking at him; familiar eyes that Sasuke had looked up to ever since he could remember.

"Onii-san," he breathed as his brother stepped into the moonlight.

* * *

OH yeah, we didn't all see that one coming. ;) I really hope this isn't boring you guys to death.

First of all, I sent this chapter to two different betas, but due to circumstances, neither one has been able to get this one back (also due to circumstances, I got chapter 15 back, so that should be up within the next few days as well), so I'm posting this kind of raw. Please let me know if there are problems. Thanks.

Second, somone pointed out that it's "Mikoto" and not "Mokoto". When I looked it up, they had it down as Mokoto, and I really REALLY don't want to go back and repost all of the chapters simply for a name, so it will continue to be "Mokoto", but thank you for pointing it out.

Thirdly, thank you all for reading this. I really appreciate it, and I LOVE reviews HINT HINT!!


	15. Sharingan

Sasuke blinked, and then rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe the scene in front of him. His aunts, uncles, cousins and parents…all dead.

"Onii-san," he finally repeated, "What happened?! Mother and father…they're…what happened?!"

Suddenly, the door behind him slammed closed, causing Sasuke to jump. He turned and looked at the door, and then right back at Itachi, who sighed and shook his head.

"Foolish little brother," the older boy said, his tone as cold as ice. Sasuke couldn't look away, totally unable to grasp what was happening. In a few seconds everyone would come walking in and start shouting about how it was all a joke…

The blackness shrouding the house seemed to close in on him, leaving only the two brothers in the darkness, and nothing else.

"Wha—" Sasuke started, but Itachi opened his eyes, and again Sasuke saw those eyes he'd seen before…it had to be the Mangekeyou Sharingan. Sasuke's stomach hardened into a ball of ice for only a moment…and then he was reliving everything that had happened in the last few days all over again.

"NO!" Sasuke tried to close his eyes and banish the horrible images from his head, but it didn't help. The images kept playing before him in his mind. "You are my son, after all," his father said, then Sasuke saw him lying on the floor, cold and still. "Your father only talks about you, and how different you are from Itachi," his mother grinned down at him, and then he saw her lifeless body. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to look after you today," Itachi grinned at him, and then he stood menacingly over their parents, his look cold and cruel.

Sasuke finally fell down, after reliving it all, his body unable to support him. "B-but, Onii-san…why?" he asked, not caring that his voice was shaking.

"To test my capacity," Itachi replied, his voice as emotionless as his face.

"That's it?" Sasuke asked. "That's why you killed everyone?" He really couldn't wrap his mind around it. Why not test your capacity by protecting? Wasn't that harder anyway? He didn't understand…he couldn't understand Itachi's words.

"It was essential."

Something seemed to snap inside of Sasuke, and he pushed himself to his feet. "That's complete crap!" he screamed out, racing at Itachi. The older boy didn't even seem to move, and Sasuke found himself down on the floor, once again, unmercifully right by his parents' bodies.

Unwittingly, his eyes filled with tears. "No!" he cried. "No, NO , NO!" Then he glanced up at Itachi again, his teeth clenching. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was run…but he wouldn't let himself. Somewhere, something stubborn rooted him to the spot. He would not run away.

It seemed to take Itachi a second to interpret the look his younger brother sent him. Sasuke continued to glare up at his brother, despite the fact that he just wanted to cower in a corner and forget all of this was happening. Then he felt weightless. The room around him spun as he flew through the air. He didn't even remember Itachi moving…again! In slow motion, he felt his back hit the window, scattering glass everywhere with a crash. Not really knowing what else to do, Sasuke covered the back of his neck, hoping to protect it somewhat from the sharp shards. He hit the ground hard, and rolled unsteadily to his feet, his own training suddenly kicking in. He stood for a few seconds, trying to catch his balance, but failing and falling to his knees, placing a hand on the ground and trying to catch his breath, or stop his heart from racing.

"Y-you're not my brother," he gasped out, knowing Itachi had already appeared on the street in front of him. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

"The brother you asked to spend time with has kept you alive to ascertain your ability," that cold voice crept through the air, and his very words seemed to stab at Sasuke in the moonlight. "I played the part of the older brother to see what ability lies hidden within you.

"You never really hated me, though, did you?" The icy tone suddenly sounded almost thoughtful. "You wanted to surpass me, and for that alone I will let you live. But let me tell you this," Sasuke looked up, tears still streaming down his cheeks, "If you want to beat me, you will have to know me, your opponent. To do that, you must awaken the Mangekeyou Sharingan. You can only do so by killing your closest friend."

Sasuke blinked, not sure if his brain could handle anything that had happened so far, let alone all that his brother was telling him now.

"My—my closest friend?" what the heck did that have to do with the stupid Mangekeyou?

"There is nothing that can surpass the Mangekeyou. Nothing. And killing your closest friend is the requirement to attain that."

Realization hit Sasuke, and he bit his lip. "D-did you kill Shisui-san?" he asked.

"Thanks to him, I was able to attain this eye," the older Uchiha glared down at his younger brother. "At the main temple of the Nakano Shrine, on the far right side, under the 7th tatami mat, you will find the clan's secret meeting place. There you will find the doujutsu of the Uchiha clan originally served. The real secret is hidden there."

Sasuke wanted to clamp his hands over his ears, and clench his eyes shut…but he didn't. He knew it was all real…almost like he'd been expecting it in some deep-set corner of his mind.

Itachi didn't stop there, though. "If you read that, it will open your eyes to the truth: Including myself, there are three people who have obtained Mangekeyou. In that case," the face carved from stone suddenly cracked into a malicious grin, "there would be a reason to let you live. "You see, right now, it would be worthless to kill someone like you.

"My foolish little brother, if you want to kill me, curse me! Hate me! Live a long and unsightly life, now Run away! Run away and cling to your pitiful life." He turned away, and opened his mouth to say something more, but to his great surprise, he heard something from the little boy.

"No."

"What?" Itachi blinked.

"I won't run away," Sasuke looked up, and forced himself to his feet. "I WON'T RUN AWAY!"

Then, to Itachi's great surprise, the boy's eyes turned red…sharingan red.

"He's awakened his sharingan," he said to himself. Here came yet another "surprise" from this younger boy to put on that list of his. Itachi couldn't have hoped for a better situation, even if could see the boy only had one toemoe.

"Why don't we see whose eyes are stronger, then?" The teenager said, his cold voice remaining as calm as ever. "Your eyes right now aren't strong enough. One day, when you have the same eyes as me, come before me."

Sasuke opened his eyes, wide. He couldn't explain what was happening, but suddenly he could see things more clearly…not like his eyesight had actually improved, but more like he could simply see through…and he would not look away, not even when he saw the Mangekyou sharingan pinwheel grow inside his brother's irises.

That quickly, the world faded to that blackness again…and he began to live the same events as before, but this time it happened over, and over and over…

"NO!!" he shrieked, but the images did not disappear. Instead, they came faster, and faster, again, and again: His mother, his father, Itachi with a smile, and then all of them dead…or a murderer. Then again, his mother was standing right there, only to be ripped away from him…and it killed him emotionally every single time. He didn't know how long it took for him to fall to his knees as he couldn't even feel his own body. He could only feel and see his parents. Then, one time, he got there soon enough to actually see them murdered. He found himself forced to watch as his older brother killed his parents…and it happened the next time too…and again after that. His voice gave out, rendering him unable to call out, tears once again streaming down his face. He would have done anything to stop those images from coming, but they did not cease…

And then, after what seemed like years, everything faded into black.

xXx

Something familiar tickled his nose, and he quickly identified it: antiseptic. The smell of utter cleanliness. He never had particularly liked it, especially when it seemed to permeate the air around him. Where was he? The hospital? Why? Why would he—?

Then, everything came rushing brutally back. He snapped his eyes open, confirming the white walls of the hospital and looked around, his heart rate quickening.

When no one came in, he sat up slowly and glanced at the window. Either everything had been a horrible nightmare, or…

He didn't hesitate, bounding out of bed and over the window sill, not caring about anything except disproving the nightmare. He'd get home, and his parents would be waiting for him, and his brother would tell him to watch himself, and that he'd never be a good ninja if he always ended up in the hospital.

Few people saw him as he ran desperately in the direction of the compound, and those that did either watched him with surprise or pity. No one tried to stop him, and he was far to lost in his own thoughts to even acknowledge them.

As soon as the compound entrance came into view, his heart sank like a weight. Large, yellow strips of cloth that said "crime scene, do not cross" over and over again had been stretched across the doors. They seemed to mock him, and with every step he took, he could have sworn they became brighter and brighter.

Vaguely, he wondered if everyone was dead, then who ran the police force now? Who had set all of this up?

Stiffly, he slid between the strips of cloth. Again, no one stopped him, and he also wondered in the back of his mind if there should have been a guard of some sort.

As soon as he stepped through the gate, he looked over to where one particular shop had been run by two older Uchiha who had always been kind to him.

"Hey, Sasuke-chan, what did you come to buy today?" He blinked, his hope rising for an instant as the older woman's voice merrily floated around him, while her husband grinned at him over his newspaper.

Then he blinked, and it had all vanished. The store had been emptied, and sat like a shell, not existing for any reason than to sit there and tease him cruelly.

He began walking towards his house, his feet dragging in the dirt. He hadn't gone more than a few hundred paces when the already darkened sky suddenly poured down on him, trying without success to match his steadily diminishing mood.

Finally he walked in the front door, and looked down. There, on the floor, amidst the blood stains, was a chalk outline, similar to ones he'd passed outside, but ignored as they washed away in the rain. The world around him blurred and he stumbled forward, falling to his knees.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, sobbing over the chalk drawing. It felt like decades, but could very well have only been minutes. His mind remained in a blank state, until his brother's words came unbidden to mind.

For some reason, although normally he could not ever remember half of the school's simple justu signs, he seemed to be able to remember Itachi's instructions flawlessly. When he finally stumbled to his feet, he turned and walked to the temple his brother had mentioned; the Nanako Shrine. Underneath the seventh mat on the far right side, he found the secret meeting place, and the scrolls…and the confirmation of everything Itachi had told him.

"So," he whispered to himself. "That's how it is."

xXx

Few people had been to Naruto's simple apartment. The Sandaime, whoever had watched him (meaning a few ANBU) and once the stupid Uchiha had followed him home. Except for the owner, who avoided the place like the plague, very few people knew where the "demon brat" lived.

That's why, when someone knocked on Naruto's door, he couldn't help but feel surprised. Getting up from his meager, half/broken table and his heated microwave dinner, he walked carefully to the door, carrying the only three-legged stool he owned (it fell over unless you sat on it just right). He stood carefully, if unsteadily up on the stool, and peered out of the peephole.

Then he felt his eyes widen in surprise. Normally, he wouldn't bother opening the door, but this time he found himself unlocking the mechanism holding the door closed, and vaguely wondered why. He came to the conclusion, that it was a morbid curiosity.

In front of the door, a soaked Uchiha Sasuke stood, looking far more depressed than Naruto thought he himself had ever looked. Naruto had heard what had happened, just like everyone else in the village. He'd also heard that the Uchiha boy, the sole survivor, was supposed to be in the hospital, in a coma.

"What the heck are you—" he started, but Sasuke, who seemed unable to really see anything around him or acknowledge anything, cut him off.

"Can I stay here?" he asked, miserably.

Normally Naruto would have told him to shove it and get lost, but something about Sasuke's demeanor reminded him of…well, him. Sasuke didn't have anywhere to go anymore, no one to turn to, and no where to stay. In moments, their situations had been brutally equalized.

He felt his head nod slightly, and stood aside. Sasuke tipped his head in thanks, although his expression never changed, and he only just barely glanced up. Naruto closed the door after the boy, finding himself rather annoyed that the Uchiha dripped water everywhere.

He was about to say something, but noticed that Sasuke simply walked over to one of the cob-web filled corners, and plopped down, leaning his head against the wall and staring blankly ahead.

After a few moments, Naruto realized that the dark-haired boy wasn't going to move, so he walked over to his room, grabbed one of the two towels he owned, and walked back out, throwing them at the other boy. "At least dry yourself off," he grumbled.

Sasuke did as he was told, slowly moving the stained, hole-covered towel over his hair and wet clothes. After several minutes, he just let the cloth slip down and cover him, and didn't move for the rest of the evening.

Naruto never thought he'd actually want the old, loud, obnoxious Sasuke back, but seeing the Uchiha like that was enough to put even him on edge. Still, he didn't complain much, instead warming up one of his own TV dinners, and placing it down in front of the Uchiha along with another towel, informing him that that was all he had, and if he wanted to just stay like that, he could.

Then Naruto walked into his small, adjacent room and lay on his bed, under the thin sheet he'd been able to keep. For the longest time, he just stared at the wall and the door, wondering again why all of this had gotten to bother him so much. Finally, although he had not come up with an answer, he finally drifted off to sleep.

xXx

Reality slowly pulled at Naruto's conciseness, waking him unwillingly to a cold, gray morning. After trying to regain sleep for several minutes, he finally gave up and stumbled into the front room. Sasuke hadn't moved. He still sat in the same corner, the towel covering him somewhat as he stared out of the nearby, small, dusty window. For a moment Naruto wondered if Sasuke had even slept all night.

"Hey," he said uncertainly, knowing very well that he was about to tread unknown waters. "You…you know…okay?"

For a few moments, Sasuke didn't answer, and Naruto wasn't about to repeat himself. Slightly annoyed at both himself and the other boy, he was about to turn around when Sasuke spoke.

"He told me to hate him," the normally loud boy couldn't seem to muster much over a whisper. "He told me that if I wanted to kill him, that I'd have to hate him."

Naruto snorted. "That's what I'd be doing. I'd go and hunt that –"

"I don't want to kill him," Sasuke's voice hadn't raised at all, but it seemed to pierce Naruto the bone.

"What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "He killed your entire family! How can you not hate him?!"

Sasuke didn't change positions, but the look on his face seemed to suddenly relax. "He's my brother," he said softly. "And…he's my friend." The blond couldn't do anything but stare dumbstruck at the blue-eyed boy as the other continued. "Even if he's evil, he's still my brother, right?" This time he turned a surprisingly firm look over at Naruto, who took a step back at the fierceness he saw in those eyes…the determination.

Naruto lowered himself down onto the stool, staring at the Uchiha and not quite being able to wrap his mind around what the other boy had said. From what he'd heard, Sasuke had been brutally tortured both physically and mentally. Not only abused, but downright tormented from the inside out. How could he honestly that he didn't hate his tormentor?

"Then…what are you going to do?" he found himself asking.

Sasuke's eyes hardened and he turned to look back out the window. "I…am going to bring him back."

* * *

So, I figured that the previous chapter had enough of a cliff-hanger, that I may as well post this.

One thing I'd like to know, do you guys think that Sasuke as Naruto and Naruto as Sasuke are in character? I mean, really in character. I've been trying really hard, but I'm not sure I've captured this, so I'm looking for opinions. Also, if you have any criticizm, that would be helpful. Thanks.


	16. Aftermath

The Third Hokage massaged his head in a vain attempt to rid himself of his current migraine. He wanted to be anywhere but in the hot, stuffy, closed off council room. However, here he sat in the middle of the meeting that should decide where to place the only surviving member of the Uchiha clan. After the boy had been discovered at Naruto's place (by the Hokage himself after half the town had practically killed themselves looking for him, and the other half had placed bets that he'd left the village), to say the council had been in an uproar would have been similar to saying the Kyuubi had been a cute, little fox. It had taken most of the meeting for him to convince the council that they really couldn't ban Naruto and Sasuke from being friends. Because of their age (old enough for the academy), and the fact that none of the council had any real parental control over either one of them, they had eventually, if reluctantly, agreed.

Of course, that had opened up another can of worms. Everyone agreed—insisted really--the boy needed to be placed in the care of a good clan, but few clans wanted to take on the added risk of a missing nin of Itachi's caliber (his reputation had been well known through out the village) coming down on their heads. The Sandaime couldn't particularly blame them. In their position, he wouldn't want his entire clan killed too if their recent adoptee's older brother decided to come back. Of course, few people knew of the truth behind all of this. Itachi wouldn't be back for his brother…but he couldn't exactly tell the rest of the council that, not enough of the council knew.

He sighed and continued to try and rub away the pain. Truthfully, the increased pressure that was supposed to relax the muscles only seemed to increase the pain.

"I said the Inoue clan will take him," one of the clan heads insisted.

"No," someone else spoke up, obviously trying to keep the anger from their voice. "We already agreed another clan should."

"You decided," the man turned and glared at the one who spoke. The woman, a younger clan head who had recently come into inheritance of some clan Sarutobi couldn't remember at the moment with his stupid headache, glared right back.

That had been the other major problem, those who wanted to take Sasuke in (undoubtedly to strengthen their own clan's reputation) could not come to a decision between themselves as to who should take the boy, and the council had already agreed that only those who had volunteered could vote on the subject.

Glancing to the side, the Sandaime saw that no one who he knew would know about the happenings was speaking up, and they probably wouldn't. That left him to diffuse the situation, yet again.

He cut back a sigh and cleared his throat. "Very well," he raised his voice. Immediately everyone paused and looked over at him. Sometimes being Hokage had its good points. "I have a suggestion," at the very least he could bring the whole council in on this. "We have an ANBU watch him every hour of every day for the next several months, to ensure his safety. Once we can attain that he and his caretakers are indeed safe, we can then decide which clan can adopt him."

Several seconds of silence met his words, and Sarutobi scrutinized everyone, almost daring them to oppose him. For the first time, the head of the Hyuuga clan spoke up, his quiet but firm voice commanding attention. "So, you propose that the entire city care for him?"

Sandaime almost had to hide a smile. "I guess that would be a correct assumption," he said with a shrug, "seeing as the entire village helps to pay for the local ninja jobs."

Immediately a roar of voices rose around him, some of them commending him, others speaking out in anger against the idea, insisting the suggestion to be an utterly preposterous notion. "I second," the quiet voice of the Hyuuga head had several people quieting down, but turning to glare in the man's direction. For the second time that night, the Third had to stifle a laugh. Did they honestly think that trying to glare down a person whose clan had come to be so well known for their staring ability could do any good?

"The motion has been called and seconded," one of the other council members, Sandaime didn't know who, and didn't much care to find out, stood up and continued to help conduct the meeting. "Everyone in favor?"

xXx

"So you see," the Third said quietly to the boy sitting in the hospital bed, "we're going to set you up with a place of your own, like Naruto's. There will always be someone with you, whether it is a team or an ANBU. Do you understand?" The boy hadn't seemed to have been listening, instead choosing to stare out of the window, and shifting position every five minutes or so.

"They won't be enough," the boy said finally. "Not against him."

Sandaime sighed. That's all he needed, another perceptive orphan on his hands. "You're probably right," he said. "But it's better than nothing, right?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I hope he does come back."

Sandaime raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

For the first time, Sasuke turned to look at him with determined, blue eyes. "I'm going to bring him back. If he comes back, then I won't have to go looking so far."

That migraine from the stupid meeting of had started to come back. Well, he thought the child had been perceptive. It seemed he would have to reassess that. "If he comes back, it will probably be to kill you."

"He won't," Sasuke turned away, his eyes drifting out the window yet again. "He said he wouldn't. He said I had to come to him. It would just be easier if he came back."

Sandaime shook his head. He thought he'd had Uchiha Sasuke figured out, but here this boy had gone and pulled a Naruto on him, totally throwing him for a loop. Was this boy particularly stupid, or particularly intelligent? He couldn't figure it out. But one thing he knew for sure, those answers weren't the answers of a seven-year-old boy. It seemed more like either a three-year-old toddler, or a twenty-three-year-old Jounin answering.

"You can't bring him back," he said finally, as kindly as he could.

Sasuke didn't even look at him as he spoke. "If I can't help those closest to me, how can I ever protect an entire village?"

"Village?"

"If I can bring Itachi back," the boy's face actually broke into a grin (which worried Sandaime slightly. Shouldn't Sasuke still be in mourning? His mind unable to cope?). "If I can do that," he repeated, "then I'll be strong enough to be Hokage."

The Third leaned back in his chair, unsure as to whether he should feel impressed, honored or frightened (both for the village and the boys own safety).

"You want to be Hokage?"

"Yes!" Sasuke turned around, his grin reaching both sides. "And I'm gonna start training harder than ever so that I can!"

The dark-haired boy spoke with such determination and conviction, that the Sandaime couldn't help but believe him, even if only for a few seconds. The promise behind those words was the promise of a true ninja.

As the Sandaime continued to look at the boy, he couldn't help but feel a pang of saddness that this child's innocence had been robbed from him at such a young age. He and Naruto had suddenly become two peas in a pod, and that idea did not appeal to him.

Sarutobi shook his head, and only hoped that in the future, Sasuke could forgive him for everything.

xXx

"Hey, Shikamaru," a round, chubby boy with brown hair and swirls on his cheeks turned to the thin boy sitting next to him. "Wanna go to the candy store after school?"

The tired-looking boy shook his head. "Ah--no way. It's okay for you because you have a nice mother, but if my mom found out that I spent money on junk food, it'd be troublesome."

Sasuke listened to their conversation with a smile on his face. Maybe he could go with Chouji…of course he didn't know where he'd get any money, but he'd figure something out.

"Did you hear?" he heard another whisper behind him and tuned in on that voice. "It seems that everyone from the Uchiha clan was killed."

Suddenly his world froze. Everything around faded to blackness, and he could have sworn he saw Itachi's red eyes staring at him through the perceived darkness around room. The words he'd spoken that night echoed around Sasuke, mingling with the whispers of the children behind him.

"Yeah," another child (presumably the one the first had spoken to) answered, "my dad was also talking about it."

Well why couldn't they just shut up about it? Sasuke wondered, his fists clenching more tightly with each word they whispered.

"Seems like he's the only one that survived," the first one spoke up again. Sasuke could feel their eyes on the back of his neck, and suddenly all he wanted to do was punch them out…but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do so, not while he could still see Itachi glaring at him and urging for to live a life full of hate.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care whether he would miss class, he'd catch up later. Right now, all he wanted was to leave.

"Sasuke-san?" the teacher, who had been helping a student up front turned at the noise of a chair being moved.

"I gotta go," he muttered, and turned towards the door. He didn't remember the teacher answering him, nor did he remember the trip to the door. All he remembered was stumbling out and into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Instantly, and ANBU appeared at his side, but he didn't acknowledge the presence. Instead, he walked outside, and down the road. He didn't know where he was going, or why. He just did not want to go back, so he continued forward.

Finally, he saw a pond in the distance. He'd passed by this miniature lake several times, but rarely had time to stop by it. He did so now, making his way down the slope after muttering something about being alone to the ANBU.

Slowly, he shuffled his way onto the small dock that had been built out into the pond, and sat down when he reached the edge, staring into the silvery water.

His father flashed into his mind. "You are my son after all," his strong voice seemed to fill the air around Sasuke, warming him. "When it's just your father and me here, he only talks about you, and how different you are from your brother," his mother's voice came next, calming down his troubled heart.

He stared into the calm water, watching his reflection ripple from when he moved his feet. "I wonder what he actually said about me," he muttered to himself. For some reason, no tears came. He felt cried out, like he had none left inside of him. Being unable to cry only made him feel worse about the whole situation.

Sighing, he put his hand down onto the old wood beside him, and it fell on a rock that had somehow been kicked out onto he edge of the pier. Slowly, Sasuke picked it up, and then threw it into the lake, again watching as the ripples moved over his reflection, distorting it. He stared at it with a sad smile for a few seconds, before he realized what the distorted face reminded him of.

"Onii-san," he breathed. Itachi looked back at him from the reflection of the lake.

"If you want to kill me," he seemed to say, "curse me! Hate me!"

Sasuke hadn't realized that he'd stood up, until he'd jumped off of the wood and into the water.

"NO!" he yelled out before he hit the pond's surface with a splash. He would not hate his brother, and he would not curse him! He held his hand out, despite how he knew that Itachi was not there at all. He held it out and stretched it under the water. He would not take revenge on his brother. He would save him.

And there wasn't a thing in the world that would be able to stop him.

* * *

Okay! First of all, thank you to Escalus, my lovely beta reader for this, and you should all get down and thank her on your hands and knees. My computer gave out on me this weekend, and so you're lucky to have this chapter at all. It's all because I sent it to her, so send her love, K?

Second of all...well, my computer died, so it might be a little while before I can get another chapter up. Sorry, guys, that's how it is, but I"ll do what I can.


	17. The Seal

Sorry this took so long. I actually had this done about two weeks ago, but my beta has a life that tends to come before this (and I wouldn't have it any other way!), so yeah, it just took a little longer. Hope you enjoy it, and please review. Thanx!

* * *

Current day: Hidden Village of the Leaf

Normally, Haruno Sakura loved the quiet. She liked to work in quiet, she liked to think in quiet, she liked to train in quiet and she liked to do most of her extra curricular activities in absolute silence. It wasn't as if she couldn't concentrate without the quiet, but after having her teammates, and a teacher who practically beat everything into her with loud explosions or the sound of something audibly breaking, she'd grown very fond of the lack of sound.

Right now, though, she hated it.

She would have given anything for a loud "Sakura-chan" whine, or a cheesy grin and laugh. She slumped further at the thought. She'd even take a snore…but nothing came, and by the likes of things nothing would.

On the bed in front of her lay her blond teammate, far more still than she had ever seen the hyperactive boy in her entire life. He'd been like that for almost two weeks now; two weeks with some intense (if strangely localized) brain activity, but nothing else. He hadn't so much as peeped in that time. Sometimes, she could see his face contort in pain or relax a little bit more than just a normal expression, but except for that, nothing.

The pink-haired girl yawned and stretched, willing herself to not fall asleep again. She'd been doing that a lot lately, falling asleep at his bed-side, and she wasn't the only one. Hyuuga Hinata had stopped by more times that she could count when the girl's team wasn't on a mission (and when they did have to go, she'd come by as soon as they got back). When on assignment, Hinata had asked her cousin to come in and check, so Neji had spent his fair share of time there as well, as had most of his team (if Sakura heard one more thing about Naruto's recovery through his fires of youth, she'd punch a hole through the wall). Actually, Sakura thought it horribly cute that Hinata would go to such lengths, and would have laughed outright at the mere thought if she weren't so dang tired and worried.

Then, of course, there had been the rest of the Kohona ni—er, eight from their year. Ino had dragged Shikamaru over more than once, and Chouji seemed to have no problems dropping by for a visit and a check-up. The blond liked to time her visits so that she could see Sai, to Sakura's slight annoyance. No matter how mature one got, some things never changed. Of course, she wasn't sure she'd want to see Ino any other way…not that she'd tell her that.

Of course Hinata's teammates came by, sometimes with her, sometimes by themselves. Sakrua had had to stop Kiba from practically beating Naruto to a pulp because he wouldn't wake up (not that she hadn't considered the idea herself).

Sai came by regularly as well, often brining food or strange presents as he'd read somewhere that doing so would help to show one's concern and deepen friendships. Naruto now had a rather large collection of strange (some downright frightening) paintings and drawings, as well as little figurines and maps of other countries (in case he decided to travel as apparently people do when they woke up from such things). Honestly, the books he read were becoming more annoying than their old sensei's.

On that note, Kakashi dropped by on a regular basis as well, along with Iruka-sensei and Jirayia-sama. Sakura usually liked to excuse herself when all three (or even just the older two) happened to come by at the same time. She honestly wondered how Iruka-sensei could stand the two older perverts.

Lady Tsunade had lost more sleep than Sakura, doing everything she possibly could to find out more about the seal Naruto had used. Because the seal had been an experiment from before the founding of the Hidden Villages, they'd had to track the origin through several different countries. It had taken Konoha calling in several favors to get the mere promise of information, and often times, it just fell through. They had gotten lucky, though. The last time Sakura had been updated, they'd traced it to the Land of Lightning (how on earth it had eventually ended up in Konoha went beyond her, especially with the bad blood between the two countries), and thus their investigation had come to almost a complete stand-still.

Fortunately, since the Wind Country remained on decent terms with Lightning, so they'd asked Gaara for help, and he had only been too willing to do whatever he could.

That had been almost a week ago. Sakura knew the Godaime was working as fast and hard as she could, and that undoubtedly the former Demon Container was too, but the girl couldn't help but wish that they could figure this out faster. Naruto had become a rather big part of her life since he'd come waltzing back into town, incidentally leading to the reuniting their genin "team" (even if it had been informal with the exception of the mission to the bridge). The last thing she wanted to do was lose someone close to her again. She didn't have any siblings, and Naruto had seemed to fill the spot rather well, acting as both "older" and "younger" brother…usually "younger".

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she turned as the piece of wood swung open.

"Kakashi-sensei," she smiled at the older man. "Come in and sit down."

He shook his head. "I'm on my way to see the Hokage, and I've been instructed to bring you with me." Sakura's breath caught in her chest as her mind digested this.

Finally she stepped forward to follow her former teacher, closing the door softly behind her.

"Did they find something?" she asked.

"She didn't say."

Sakura nodded and fell into silence as the two leapt onto the nearest roof, heading towards the carved cliff-face, and the Hokage tower.

Finally, they arrived, rushing into the Godaime's office with a hurried bow.

"Sakura, Kakashi. Good," Lady Tsunade nodded at their entry. Sakura noted that Sai had already been there, as had Iruka-sensei and Sannin Jirayia. It took every ounce of control the pinkette had gathered in her lifetime to not burst into demands and questions right then and there.

As soon as the door closed, Tsunade cleared her throat, looking none the better from the action. Sakura noticed the dark circles around the other woman's eyes with a wince, knowing that if it showed through the Sannin's image illusion jutsu that it had to be bad (she'd even given up drinking to find a solution for Naruto's case, and didn't look much the better for it, although Sakura highly approved).

"We have just received a message from the Kazekage," Tsunade's words came out crisply, despite her obvious exhaustion. "They were able to gather the information necessary."

The tension in the room relaxed suddenly with the news, only to be brought back at an even higher density moments later as everyone anticipated the news.

"The jutsu first came into being more than 250 years ago, with some highly prestigious clans from the Land of Lightning combining to study and create some jutsus from seals. It was never named, and that was one reason why tracing it became so difficult." Sakura frowned at that. She'd never heard of a jutsu that hadn't been named. The young medic stole a glance at the scroll on the desk, and felt her eyes widen in surprise. Suna had gotten a LOT of information, and vaguely Sakura wondered how on earth they'd been able to find a bird large enough to carry the thick scroll.

"Apparently," the blond woman continued, "the original idea of the jutsu centered on gaining access to another person's memories. Of course, we already knew that thanks to Jiraiya," she nodded in the white-haired man's direction. "Just about everything else I have here is new, so you may all want to take a seat."

Sakura knew just as well as everyone else that ninja had little problem standing in place for hours on end, something drilled into them from their academy days. Either this would be VERY long, or it very shocking. Either way, Sakura didn't like where this headed. Still, she took a seat in silence next to Sai, who had chosen to rest on the window sill with an infuriatingly calm smile on his face.

As soon as everyone had gotten more or less comfortable (meaning Kakashi leaned against a wall, while everyone else had taken a seat somewhere in the room), the Hokage continued.

"Originally, the seal was developed to work with other people in the same room, for interrogation purposes."

"I knew it," Jiraiya grinned from his place beside the hokage's desk. "There's a similar seal used in most countries today for interrogation."

Tsunade nodded, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her former teammate. "This seal came about as the fourth trial to gain access to another person's mind. The first is indeed used for interrogation even today, although it isn't always as accurate as other methods. The user has to know exactly what they're doing, and who they're working with before the seal can be used. It's classified as an A-rank seal jutsu for that reason alone.

"The second jutsu was developed to work over long distances. Eventually they succeeded, but at a high cost. Most people who used the jutsu had to know the other person almost intimately before they could make a connection. When they first started, eight out of the 10 ninja in the trials died. The two who didn't, ended up in the hospital in a coma for several years."

Sakura tried not to blanch, but her stomach tightened, and she couldn't seem to keep the blood draining from her face. She saw a similar reaction from Iruka, and even noted some slight tensing from Kakashi. Jirayia's face lost all emotion, and Tsunade bit her lip for a moment before continuing on. The only person in the room who seemed unphased was Sai…and even he didn't look too pleased.

"When the first man finally woke up, he had informed them that the seal had indeed worked, but neither of the two ninja could return to active duty after that because of their prolonged chakra depletion.

"Still, because of the 'success', they continued evolving the seal," Tsunade sighed and rubbed the side of her temple. She never did that unless she'd gone for at least three days without sleep. Despite this, and to the pinkette's admiration and gratitude, she went on.

"The third adaptation of the seal supposedly let someone access anyone's mind. However, all attempts at this one failed, leaving the researchers with no choice but to adapt blind."

Jiraiya flinched when she said that, and Sakura found herself wincing in response to his action. If he felt it was that bad, the young medic wasn't sure she wanted to know. What little she did know about developing seals, though, said that every single mark served a purpose, and even having the smallest stroke even slightly off could mean the difference between life and death…or worse.

"Naturally," Tsunade continued, unaware or ignoring Jiraiya's reaction, "the results didn't come out very well, until they came up with the current seal." With that, she held up a scroll that had become all too familiar to Sakrua.

"Apparently, it was a fluke accident, but they were able to find the correct placement of one of the marks. So instead of draining a ninja of all their chakra and then their life-force as it had been doing, it stopped gathering energy after just draining the chakra. They were able to work with this, and found that the third seal had indeed worked, but needed an immense amount of chakra for completion.

"It would give the user the other person's knowledge, putting both in a coma while the user's brain processed the information taken from the target's memories.

"The problem came with the chakra intake." Sakura nodded, having anticipated this, as did most of those currently in the room. If the seal would drain someone's chakra and life-force, then simply stopping the flow of chakra so the user wouldn't die wouldn't complete the jutsu.

Tsunade confirmed her suspicions. "They discovered that the less the user knew their target, the more chakra it consumed. They also discovered that distance had a great deal to do with the chakra consumption. Even when they developed this new seal, it only allowed for that person to gain a limited amount of the target's memories. That presented the next problem: they could not choose a starting point."

Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow, looking utterly confused. "Starting point for what, Sensei?" she asked.

"Starting point for the memories," Tsunade replied. "Every time, the memories began to transfer, it started at the beginning of the target's life. The most time they had recorded was two years of childhood memories. The ninja who attempted that was a respected, jounin-level shinobi with supposedly amazing chakra reserves, and he attempted to use the jutsu on a person in his own village. They both fell into a coma for a little more than 28 hours before waking up. The ninja gave what knowledge he could, while the target didn't seem to remember much of anything. They weren't sure if that was due to the second person's lack of training (he hadn't been a ninja on top of an apparently lousy memory), or the actual jutsu itself."

"So," Sai spoke up in his frustratingly "fake" pleasant voice, "when Naruto wakes up," Sakura immediately forgave his frustrating habits at his word use. He'd said 'when', not 'if'. "He'll wake up with all of Uchiha Sasuke's memories downloaded into his brain?"

Tsunade nodded. "From what I can gather, yes."

"And what about Sasuke?" Kakashi asked quietly.

The Hokage shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine.

"However," she gazed around the room, "when Naruto wakes up, he will at the very least be disoriented. From what I could read here, he will know Sasuke's memories as if he had lived Sasuke's life himself. Maybe it will be like watching a film, or maybe he will actually live the events…" she faded off and everyone in the room except Sai cringed.

"One way or another," Tsunade sighed and sat back in her chair, "there isn't anything we can do until he wakes up."

The pink-haired teen felt her mouth go dry. "And…" she started, forcing the words out, "how long will that be?"

Tsunade shook her head. "The time frames they have recorded aren't consistent enough to know. He could wake up tomorrow…or he could wake up in 16 years."

"Hokage-Sama," Sai drew attention to himself again as he asked his question with a smile. "What if a third mind became involved?"

Tsunade blinked at the pale boy. "What do you mean?" she asked.

His answer froze everyone in place. "I was just wondering how this situation would affect a Jinchuuriki."

xXx

He'd been able to feel it ever since he had been sealed inside the brat. Something hadn't ever been quite right (beyond the unimaginably disturbing fact that he, the nine-tailed demon fox, had been sealed inside a human to begin with), and it bothered him more than it should have (which said a lot). As a demon, Kyuubi had lived for centuries…millennia really (albeit he did sleep for a great deal of time, but that was beside the point).

Up until his delightful little attack on the human village that had sealed him away (what a rotten end to a lovely night), he remembered everything perfectly…including the stupid Uchiha Madara. After that, things tended to get a little vague. Admittedly, it could easily be the captivity getting to him, but he doubted it. Nothing like this could affect the great demon's mind.

The brat continued to live his every day life, but something about it felt rushed to the ancient being…like their time hadn't quite synched with the universe; or as if something of great importance that took a fair amount of time (not that long according to Kyuubi, but long enough to be annoying) had to be squeezed into an extremely short amount of time.

It wasn't anything he could really describe, and he didn't care to try. He didn't have another demon to talk to (the fact that demons hadn't discussed any subject without destroying everything around them in an outright battle in over a millennia was also beside the point), and a human wouldn't understand.

Humans: Pathetic arrogant weaklings…especially the brat. He didn't realize what he had, which didn't help Kyuubi at all. The more the tailed-beast used the brat, the more he could weaken the seal. He knew that somehow, although he shouldn't, seeing as he had never exactly been sealed before.

Another problem he encountered dealt with his recent memories. At times he'd recall (out of sheer boredom) something that had happened to the brat not a week before, and he would recall two images, both as different as day and night. One image (the one that fit his pathetic host) portrayed a gloomy, reserved, and resentful child. The other had the same images from the eyes of a bouncy and good-natured if mischievous child.

He honestly could not figure it out…which only served to frustrate him more.

He knew the answer would come, though. Even now, it danced only just out of his reach. He would unravel this...this strange feeling that tickled the back of his mind. He would figure out whatever seemed so wrong.

After all, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.

xXx

"You know, you really are a pain," Kabuto frowned at the Uchiha laid out on the medical table. When he hadn't shown up for almost an entire day, Orochimaru had gotten concerned for his new body. Kabuto had bet that the boy had run, even if it didn't make perfect sense (Sasuke didn't seem like the "running" type). Most of Orochimaru's experiments ran at some point.

When the Snake Sannin went to check on the Uchiha, Kabuto had trailed along after his master out of sheer curiosity. That's when they'd found the boy, just inside the door to his room. He had apparently collapsed, and Kabuto, with all his knowledge and resources, had yet to figure out why.

Orochimaru had been in a foul mood ever since. After all, his perfect, ideal body suddenly seemed to give out on him for no apparent reason. With his condition, they'd have to find a new host soon, one way or another. Orochimaru had said in no uncertain terms to wait as long as they could, pain or no. Meanwhile, Kabuto had been assigned to assess the boy, keep an eye on him and try to figure out just why this had suddenly happened.

He couldn't figure it out, though. According to the test results, the brain functioned normally, for the most part. It just seemed that most of the time, anything higher than basic brain functions weren't necessary, except for a few areas that had so much activity he had to wonder how both readings could possibly come from the same brain. Every now and then, the whole brain would suddenly activate, as if someone had flipped a switch. He could even recognize movement signals among everything else (although even he had yet to develop a jutsu that would tell him what those movements were supposed to be--he'd never had to before). Those signals just didn't seem to be connecting.

None of it made sense.

So he did the only thing he could do. Sighing, he put the results on top of a large stack of papers he'd written out by hand, and started from the beginning…_again_.


	18. A Different Start

I'd like everyone to know that this has only been marginally betad (beta read), but I'm leaving for about a week, and I wanted to post this before I left, so this chapter is subject to minor change as soon as I get it back from my beta reader! Thank you.

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Book 2

Chapter 1 (18)

Naruto sat in a wooden desk set up in the old, ninja-academy classrooms, looking up at Iruka-Sensei as he called roll. He raised his hand when his name rang throughout the classroom. The teacher nodded and continued on. As soon as the older man's eyes returned to the paper he held, Naruto's eyes trailed over to the empty chair where Sasuke should have been sitting right next to him.

Where was that idiot? In the last five years, Naruto had seen a noticeable change in the black-haired boy—since the "incident" as most of the village called it. Naruto found it interesting that six years ago and before, "the incident" referred to the Nine-tailed fox attacking. Now it referred to the Uchiha Massacre. Before the "incident", Sasuke had been a hard-working boy who never skipped class, even if he practically slept through it. Now, though…

"Uchiha, Sasuke," Iruka's voice hung only half-expectantly in the classroom. When silence answered him, no one seemed surprised. "Where is he now?" he asked, and turned to Naruto.

The blond boy shrugged. "How should I know?" Truthfully, they both knew that Sasuke skipped class either to practice on his own (and away from his fan-girls) or he had something much more…obvious in mind; something that would undoubtedly get him in loads of trouble…again.

Iruka sighed. "Guess I'll have to go look for him during break, again," he muttered (although Naruto didn't miss the amused if annoyed smile that crossed his lips), and finished calling out the names of the other children in his class.

After the "incident" (as the town had named it), Sasuke had gone from the stalwart-if-bouncy Uchiha to the prankster of the class. Whenever he had any attention, he would do anything he could to get a laugh out of his fellow classmates, or anyone else he could get to pay attention to him. Naruto couldn't understand it.

The really annoying thing about it all was that outside of class, he worked harder than ever. When no one paid any particular attention to him, he nearly killed himself training. This meant he still got fairly decent grades and passed every test.

Naruto didn't know how to handle it. At times, he found himself smiling at his friend's (even Naruto admitted after so long that hanging out as often they had in the last several years—even if only because Sasuke sought him out—qualified their relationship as a "friendship") antics. Other times, it ticked the blond off.

Here the "dead last" sat patiently in class every day, took notes (although he still had some problems with some of the characters and knowing definition of some words), and basically did everything he possibly could, and he still couldn't seem to raise his grades to more than mid-range at best…and those were his good subjects.

Then they got onto practical applications, like bushins…

No matter how hard he tried, he'd only barely been able to reproduce a bushin at all, let alone a usable one. He'd even gone to the teachers for help, but only Iruka had even deigned to try to help him, and even that had started only recently.

Because of the upcoming tests, Naruto hadn't been able to see Sasuke much. He'd tell anyone who asked that he didn't mind. After all, everyone knew one could only take so much of the bouncy Uchiha.

Now _that_ was something that really got to the demon container. Sasuke had seen his own family murdered right before his eyes, by someone he looked up to and trusted none the less, and yet he seemed to get happier as time went on. Did Sasuke really think that little of his own family? Naruto scoffed at the thought. He'd like to see how Sasuke did growing up without a family at all. The blond had long-since come to the conclusion that he'd rather trade places with Sasuke and at least see what a family was like than have ever grown up without any love at all.

Not that he needed that kind of useless emotion, he reminded himself quickly.

"SASUKE!!" a loud yell came from outside the window. Everyone turned to see the blue-eyed Uchiha dash by with two chunin following close behind, looking utterly livid.

Iruka-sensei sighed and stood up. "Turn to page 403 in your text books and answer all the questions. I may quiz you by the end of class, so be prepared."

With that, the chunin teacher calmly exited the classroom.

Well, Naruto hadn't seen them that angry in a long time. Maybe this would turn out to be entertaining after all.

xXx

Sasuke had long since perfected the art of deception and hiding. He'd had to, to pull of some of the pranks he did. Because of his practice, he'd actually been able to pull off some pretty good ones. The one he'd just finished, however, took the cake. For the first time in quite a while, he'd forsaken his pranking from the shadows to stand in plain sight of the entire town (with scaffolding and rope none the less), and they hadn't even noticed until he'd almost finished. Now, he found himself using every trick he could think of to avoid punishment.

"How dare you do that to the Hokage Monument!" one of the chunin chasing him yelled out.

He didn't respond with more than a laugh, and turned a corner, watching as the chunin continued to "follow after him" from behind his camouflaged fence material. Tranferring any amount of chakra into the material made it look like part of a fence (flat and all), causing those who didn't know what to look for to pass right by anyone hiding behind it.

Naruto had been given it for his birthday a few years back, and Sasuke borrowed it on a regular basis. He knew his blond friend knew, but for some reason, the dark-eyed boy never said anything, so Sasuke came to the conclusion that that meant he'd been given permission.

Unfortunately, Sasuke and Naruto hadn't been able to hang out much lately, mostly because Naruto insisted on studying after school. Of course, he seemed to be almost last in just about everything, a combination of his scores making him dead last in the class…with the exception of the stupid strategy. Although he no longer topped the ranks in that particular area, he did seem to have a natural talent for it that even Sasuke couldn't miss.

"Sasuke…" a voice behind him caused him to freeze and slowly turn. To his dismay, his teacher stood right behind him, glaring. "What are you doing outside of class?" he asked, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

Sasuke winced. Not good…

xXx

Sasuke sat in front of the class, nicely tied up in a yellow and orange package…well, at least that's what it looked like to Naruto.

Despite himself, the blond had to admit the very idea of this giganticly proportioned prank amused him. All of the Hokage's currently had various tattoos and runny noses...or worse. Seeing the people who started and headed this lousy village (especially the stupid Fourth) in that condition would undoubtedly be burned into the Uzumaki Naruto's mind for the rest of his life—well, as soon as he saw it in any case (he most certainly hoped so).

"Line up, now!" Naurto snapped out of his thoughts as the kids around him got up and headed towards the front of the room, grumbling. Henge, this time, Naruto learned from listening into the mumbling and growling from the other students.

Thankfully, after much practice and training (and failing the final test twice), Naruto had actually managed to get this one down. Ahead of him, the Uchiha scowled as the other kids shot him dirty looks, not that Naruto blamed them.

"Troublesome," he heard the Nara boy mutter, and wondered if he knew any other words.

Suddenly, a collective gasp shot through the room. Naruto himself couldn't help but stare in utter shock at the place where Sasuke had stood only moments ago, before averting his eyes and feeling his cheeks darken. He'd never seen a woman like the one Sasuke had transformed into…let alone one without clothes. Thankfully, he hadn't actually seen anything before the mist had cleared.

He heard a pop, and looked back to see Sasuke laughing at Iruka-sensei who had practically collapsed on the floor from a nose bleed.

"DON'T MAKE UP STUPID JUTSU LIKE THAT!" he yelled at the Uchiha.

"Hey, I'll have you know that works on the Hokage!" Sasuke replied. This only succeeded in getting him detention.

Things didn't improve much through the rest of the day, and by the time school ended, Naruto couldn't wait to get out of there and head home.

Before he did, though…

He stepped onto the street and took out a disposable camera from the bag he carried on his back. He'd also learned quite a while ago, that hanging around with Sasuke and not having a camera should in and of itself be a crime. He'd have missed far too many opportunities.

Seeing the fourth with a nosebleed was one of them.

xXx

"Shallow," Ino said to the pink-haired girl in front of her. "I can't believe after all this time, you're nothing but a shallow wannabe."

To her credit, Sakura didn't so much as flinch at the other girl's words.

"Only shallow girls switch their loyalties just like that," the platinum blond continued.

"Just because I think Sasuke is cute now?" Sakura asked quietly. "You know I have for a while. It doesn't mean I'm giving up on Naruto either. So why do you call me 'shallow' every chance you get, lately?"

Ino turned, her long hair arcing behind her. "Because you are!"

Sakura shook her head. "You really want to stop being my friend because of that?" she asked.

Ino paused. "What if I say yes?" she answered in return, lifting her nose and closing her eyes.

Sakura looked down for a second, feeling like she wanted to cry. Then, her eyes steeled and she looked up, opening her mouth to say something.

Then she realized she had nothing to say.

She stood there, gaping stupidly at the girl she had looked up to for so long…

"Then, I guess we're rivals now," she finally said softly.

Ino hadn't been expecting that. "Rivals?" she blinked, "for what? Or who? Sasuke?"

Sakura shrugged. "Unless you want to be enemies, rivals just seemed to fit better," she looked down, "or maybe just 'not friends' anymore."

As much as she hated it, the Yamanaka had to admit her fri—former friend had a point. She may not like Sakura right now, but she didn't hate her either. After a few seconds, she turned to say something, only to see a flash of pink and red disappear around the corner.

"Rivals," she said softly, and then a smile came to her face. "Alright," she said, "We'll see who's the best Kunoichi. Rivals it is."

xXx

Sakura slumped against the wall, willing herself not to cry. She'd always looked up to Ino. Even when they'd fought, she'd figured they'd always be friends. Somehow, though, she realized that Ino still hadn't forgiven her for what was said so many years ago at their first real fight, and even at her age Sakura knew that had something to do with the current situation. They'd made up after the fight, of course, but somehow, calling someone a backstabber (not in so many words, but of all people, Ino could read between the lines even then) tended to leave some sore points. Between Inoue Tia, Sato Ami and now Ino, her life had officially sunk to its lowest…and just before their final exam too.

So what if Sakura finally woke up to Sasuke's handsome appearance, even if he wasn't as cute as Naruto? So what if she liked eye-candy as much as the next person and ogled over it? Okay, even she had to admit she tended to get a little fan-girlish at times, but only because all the other girls did. Besides, it was fun. She felt accepted like that…like she had something in common.

"I never should have told her," she said to herself. It had taken her weeks to work up the courage to even agree with Ino when her former friend had squeed over Sasuke. At first, the blond didn't even seem to notice. Sakura had been so relieved. She'd been able to giggle and laugh with the other girls then, while everyone eventually forgot she liked Naruto. Somehow, it felt…wrong to "fan-girl" over him. He was always just so quiet and reserved that she felt like he deserved to be watched quietly from a distance, not like the loud, boisterous Sasuke.

Then she'd noticed. Slowly, over the past several months, Ino had grown quieter and quieter when Sasuke came up. Then she started to call Sakura shallow. "Shallow billboard brow" had come to be her favorite term.

At first, the rosette had only felt hurt at her friend's words. Then she'd gone and pulled a page out of her real affection's book and started to put on tough, non-caring faces. It had taken her a while of willing and concentrating, but she stopped flinching at the insults, despite the fact that she felt a knife through her chest every time.

Now, with all of this, Sakura almost didn't want to go on. She suddenly felt so alone, and defenseless without her friend by her side.

Then her eyes hardened, and she reached up to touch the red ribbon Ino had given her.

"I won't lose to you," she said, standing away from the wall. "Just like him," she thought about Naruto, always walking home alone, always training, always serious, "I won't let this take me down. I'll show you! I'll be the best Kunoichi ever!"

And with a nod of her head, she turned to walk home, ignoring her wet cheeks.


	19. Exam Day

Book 2

Chapter 2

"Hey, Sasuke," the black-haired boy looked up from his position on the scaffolding in front of the Hokage mountain. Iruka sighed at the pout on his face, "if you hurry up, I'll buy you Raman."

The pout immediately disappeared. "Really?!" he asked. Iruka nodded. "Yatta!" he shouted, and began cleaning with vigor. Iruka shook his head and smiled. If he felt a connection with any of his students, it would have to be Uchiha Sasuke.

Both of them had lived while their parents died, and both reacted in the same way (albeit Sasuke could come up with tricks that made Iruka's look like a walk in the park, but still…). For some reason, he just felt himself drawn towards the child's attitude. Was he even an Uchiha? Between the personality and the blue-eyes, sometimes Iruka wondered. Sometimes, it struck him as funny when he thought about what the stuck-up Uchihas would think of their only surviving family member (not including the traitor Itachi). Truthfully, Iruka thought they'd probably approve of Itachi more…he sighed and pushed the thought away, choosing instead to focus on the nice day and plans for his future lessons.

It felt like forever, but finally the boy finished cleaning up his mess on the Hokage Mountain, and the two retired to Ichiraku's. As the boy hungrily ordered a miso ramen bowl, Iruka couldn't help but be thankful that he only ate as much as he did; two, maybe three bowls tops. He'd heard from Sasuke that Naruto could eat half his weight.

Iruka wondered if that had to do with Kyuubi…

He quickly shook the thought from his head. Thoughts along those lines were dangerous. They lead to a slip of the tongue—

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" the teacher blinked as Sasuke interrupted his inner dialogue.

"What?"

Sasuke suddenly looked up at him, a smile on his face. "Thanks for bein' nicer to Naruto."

Iruka blinked for a few moments before a smile set over his face. "So you noticed, huh?"

"Yeah," Sasuke turned his grin on the bowl in front of him and slurped the last of the soup rather noisily. Iruka stuffed some noodles into his own mouth, his thoughts turning to the blond boy himself. Only a few days into the first semester he taught their class, Sasuke had come up to Iruka and asked why all the teachers treated Naruto differently.

It had surprised (and even pleased to some extent) Iruka to really see how, even at such a young age, Sasuke showed signs of high intelligence and perceptive capabilities, which in turn gave him all the more chances that he'd come back from his missions and become an excellent shinobi; especially since he hadn't really noticed it himself.

Once it had been pointed out, Iruka saw how rudely and sometimes downright unfairly the other teachers did treat Naruto, and even found himself sympathizing with them. This was the Kyuubi they were talking about, after all. Still, something about Naruto had caught his eye too. If Naruto really were the Kyuubi, as everyone seemed to believe (no one could really talk about it, so that seemed to be the general consensus, and Iruka didn't have enough information to really refute it), then why did he always seem to back away from situations before he got into fights? Why would he almost always choose to observe quietly from the back and mind his own business? Wouldn't it be in a demon's nature to fight and win at any cost? To simply gain power as easily as possible?

Of course, he didn't have any reason to back that up either, but as much as he sympathized with the other town members, it just didn't feel right. Certainly Naruto seemed to want to get stronger, but only due to his own hard work and determination, not cheap shots and corruption. Plus, his chakra had no trace of Kyuubi's in it (Iruka doubted he'd ever be able to forget THAT feeling).

He'd come to the conclusion that Kyuubi had been sealed inside Naruto. From what he'd heard, other ninja villages had been doing that for decades, Sand and Cloud coming immediately to mind.

So, at Sasuke's request, he'd started to treat Naruto like a regular student, and had seen some rather remarkable progress as a result. The boy still remained "dead last" in the class, but only when all scores combined, as he seemed a little ahead of last place in most of the subjects, the exceptions being practical applications.

Iruka suspected Kyuubi for that one too (too much chakra meant too little control, which made practical application practically impossible).

Of course, he almost scolded himself when he realized that he never would have even looked at the possibility of Naruto's growth and his basic humanity if Sasuke hadn't pointed it out to him at that time. He also found himself vaguely suspicious that if he'd gotten to like Naruto on his own, he wouldn't have come to any of these conclusion either, as it would have been more of a subconscious acceptance.

Of course, that's probably why he remained a chunin and "basics" teacher.

"One pork bowl please!" he looked down at the cheerful Uchiha and shook his head, switching his thoughts back to his current companion. Intelligent, loyal, hard-working, independent and yet totally willing to form bonds with others (like Naruto); the clan couldn't have realized how lucky they were when this child had been born.

xXx

Naruto clenched his fists tighter, not realizing he'd been digging his nails into his hands, and not particularly caring.

Due to the fact that he'd entered the academy early, he'd been able to take the test twice before (the second time after the Hokage himself pulled some strings), and had failed rather miserably both times.

He hated failing.

He'd practiced and practiced each time as well, but every time they called on his worst subjects.

This year, he felt confident enough (maybe not the best, but passable) in everything but—

"Bushin," Iruka's voice rang through the room, and seemed to pierce his chest like an arrow.

"Why?" he moaned softly and dropped his head onto the desk.

"So..." He looked up at Sasuke, sitting next to him (looking rather nervous himself). "You don't think you'll pass?" he asked.

Naruto scoffed, not lifting his head off of the table. "You know how bad I am at bushins."

"Right," the black-haired boy looked down at his own clenched hands. Then he shook his head. "What am I saying? You'll do your best, and we'll both graduate and kick everyone else's butts!"

The blond raised an eyebrow, not really noticing how he relaxed at the other boy's words. "What do you mean 'we'? We probably won't even be on the same team, you know," he pointed out.

"Wha--?" Sasuke looked utterly flabbergasted. "What do you mean?"

"Come on," Naruto shrugged. "You're ahead in almost every subject in the class, and I'm behind."

Sasuke sniggered. "Dead last," he muttered.

Naruto's look darkened, but he continued. "Unless they're planning for some strange balance, they're going to put the best people together and let those guys form the best teams." He shrugged, "it only makes sense."

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered again, and lowered his head to his desk. Then, with more energy than Naruto thought humanly possible, he shot straight back up.

"I got it!" he grinned. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his friend. He'd gotten rather wary of that smile. "We'll just have to see whose team's the best!"

Naurto rolled his eyes. "Yours will be, teme," he muttered.

"You gonna let that stop you?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly and he couldn't help but turn and look at his smiling friend in surprise. Of course, the Uchiha had always had everything easy, so of course he'd think that someone could—even with the odds set against them--really rise above everything…

Even as the thoughts went through the Jinchuuriki's mind, he couldn't help but hear how weak they sounded, even to him, no matter how true they were.

He felt his own mouth curve up, a strange new hope seeming to come out of nowhere bubbling in his chest.

"I guess it'll suck when you lose to 'dead last', huh?" he grinned confidently.

Sasuke's eyes sparked. "Whatever, dobe."

Naruto was just about to respond when Iruka came into the classroom. "Uchiha, Sasuke."

Sasuke gulped, but flashed his friend a thumbs up and a grin before heading out of the room. Naruto watched him in slight awe. How could he do that? He always seemed to be able to inspire the best in just about everyone, no matter what situation or how much of an idiot he seemed like.

At times, Naruto truly wondered if the Uchiha acted so differently because he could physically see something about people that no one else could.

xXx

Naruto stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki-sensei trying to re-muster the courage Sasuke had helped to give him earlier.

Suddenly, the room seemed very clear to him, and he could take in just about every detail from the cobwebs at the top of the window of the empty classroom to the smudges of handprints and fingerprints around the doorknob. He could tell what planks of wood had been taken from the same tree because of the similar patterns, and he could see the different chinks in the metal on Iruka-sensei's headband.

He was trying to distract himself, he realized suddenly. Because he wanted to not face the task at hand so readily, his mind was searching for something—anything—to get his thoughts off of the stupid test.

Why did it mean so much to him? Even if he failed, he could go back and try again…but something about this test felt different than the other two tests.

He also had a sneaking suspicion that Sasuke and his stupid challenge had something to do with it.

Great. No pressure, huh?

"Alright, whenever you're ready," he heard Mizuki-sensei say, and took a calming breath.

His hands formed the proper seal, and he concentrated as hard as he could.

"Bushin no Jutsu!" he called out, and poured his concentration into the effort. He felt the chakra come when called, and felt it release, but he almost didn't dare look when the process (which somehow seemed to take an eternity, and yet felt all too short) finished.

"Naruto…" he heard Iruka-sensei's disappointed voice, and felt his heart sink. His eyes slowly opened, and he looked to the side to see himself…except he looked as if he'd hung over the toilet being sick all night, hadn't had anything to eat for about two weeks straight, and a vampire had sucked him dry all at once.

He stared down at the clone…ish thing for a few minutes, as if just staring would make it change.

Then he heard Iruka-sensei's voice like it cut off every vital organ in his body. "You fail."

Mizuki-sensei shot him a pitying look, but didn't say anything as he slowly shuffled out of the room.

xXx

Sasuke saw Naruto come out, and was about to walk over and congratulate him when he noticed the blonde's forehead remained strangely bare.

Suddenly, the smile fell from the Uchiha's face as he watched Naruto walk mechanically over to the swing that hung from the largest tree in the school yard, and shove his leg over the wooden plank.

The world seemed to fade away around them, and Sasuke couldn't help but stare. He'd honestly never imagined that Naruto wouldn't pass this time. It just hadn't seemed possible. They'd go on missions and end up being great ninja together. He knew that's how all of this was supposed to turn out… So what had happened?

"Congratulations!" he jumped and turned as several people (and their children from his class, mostly girls) came over to him, wanting to shake his hand or whatnot.

"Yes, Congratulations, Sasuke-kun!" he heard several of them chorus, and wondered how he could feel so utterly alone surrounded by so many people.

xXx

Naruto watched Sasuke try to deal with his fan-girls (and their parents) numbly. Vaguely he realized that at this point, he should feel satisfied to some extent that if he had to feel miserable, at least the world would let those around him feel miserable too…but he couldn't seem to muster the energy to even try and feel much of anything.

He only felt numb…and sad.

As he sat there, in the shade of the tree, he sensed someone approach him from the side, but didn't look up. He really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment.

"Come with me," he heard a soft voice. This time, he glanced over to see Mizuki-sensei standing there with a pleasant smile on his face.

Not really knowing what else to do, Naruto mechanically followed the white-haired man away from the annoyingly loud crowds of congratulating people, not noticing or caring how some of them looked at him with hatred in their eyes.

xXx

"He just wants you to be strong, you know," Mizuki-sensei said as he looked out at Konoha as it stretched before the pair sitting on one of the taller buildings.

Naruto didn't respond, merely choosing to look out at the world around him and wonder which God hated him the most to do this to him, and what he'd done to tick said deity off so much.

"You don't like being weak, do you?"

That seemed to hit a chord with Naruto, and he couldn't help but look over at the older man. "What?"

"It's part of a ninja's heritage," Mizuki continued. "The stronger you are, the more you're able to do. You can protect, or you can destroy. You can gain, or you can give. It all becomes your choice, and the stronger you are, the more freedom you obtain."

Naruto found himself nodding along. Freedom from this stupid village? That sounded nice. If he never passed the final exam, he doubted he'd ever be allowed to leave the village (like they'd let the Nine-tailed Demon Fox truly leave). That thought made him utterly sick. "That's why I worked so hard to pass that stupid test," he muttered.

Mizuki sighed and looked over at him with an understanding smile. "I know you worked hard," he said, "but effort doesn't count for a lot in the life of a shinobi."

Naruto snorted. If only the stupid Uchiha could get that through his thick head, and stop building up everyone's hopes like—

"But if you want," Mizuki-sensei's words broke into Naruto's thoughts, "I might be able to change that, just this once."

Immediately, Naruto felt suspicious. No one was ever that nice to him. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Mizuki sighed. "Well, I have to agree with Iruka. You have to know a Bushin before you can graduate, or something that can make you equally as useful," his face suddenly turned serious. "A bushin can save your life, you know."

"Yeah," Naruto sighed.

"But, if you learned something a little more powerful than a bushin…"

The blond didn't quite know what to think about that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," Mizuki-sensei raised an eyebrow in his direction, "do you think they'd be able to stop you from becoming a ninja if you learned something particularly powerful? I could help, you know—"

"Why?" Naruto asked. Mizuki was old enough know about Kyuubi, and at first had treated Naruto just like every other teacher. In the last few weeks he'd been far more fair, but no one changed that fast without a reason…besides, even Iruka-sensei (who had been much nicer for far longer) seemed wary around the Jinchuuriki.

Mizuki blinked over at him. "What do you mean, 'why'?"

Naruto snorted. "I'm not stupid. I know everyone hates me…so why would you want to help me?"

Mizuki-sensei regarded him for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing. "Smart kid," he said. "I expected as much.

"Truthfully," his face took on a slightly devious expression, "I think it'd be best if you were out protecting the village instead of staying cooped up inside of it and causing that hatred to grow."

Causing the hatred to grow? Naruto felt his mood sink even further at that. It was the truth, though. The longer he stayed around Konoha, the more he felt hated and feared. He didn't want to _cause_ the hatred. Fear? Maybe. Hatred? No. He preferred being left alone, not ostracized and rejected openly.

"So, what if I helped you with it?" he asked. Naruto blinked and looked over at Mizuki. He could sense something else there, some other motive…but at the moment, he didn't particularly care.

"Help me with what?"

"Well, you see, there's this scroll…"

* * *

Here's where I say that I love all my readers, and thank you so much for coming.

I'm also going to say that I think we're all screwed with Obama in for president...gonna say that while I still can. *sigh*


	20. The Scroll of Sealing

'I am in SO much trouble,' Naruto thought to himself as he quietly, but confidently (at least he hoped he looked confident), strode through the hall of the Hokage tower.

Mizuki had told him about the Scroll of Sealing, and then informed him exactly where it was. Naruto knew almost all of the Hokage tower from the times when he had lived there, so getting to even some of the more obscure and protected areas of the Hokage Tower wasn't a matter of not getting lost, no matter how confusing the corridors; no, what concerned Naruto was the Hokage himself.

He very seriously doubted that the Hokage wouldn't know (somehow) that he was there, and that it was only a matter of time before he met the old man. He still hadn't come up with something to tell the village leader, and he wasn't delusional enough to think he could even come close to taking him in a fight so—

"Naruto?" The blond boy jumped about 30 feet (at least that's what it felt like) and whirled around to face the Third Hokage himself. They stood there for several seconds, staring at each other. Naruto didn't feel anything angry about the man, but he did feel the tension. "What are you doing in my house?"

'House'? Naruto thought to himself. The Hokage actually _lived_ here too? Even with all of his being raised here, he hadn't known that. Or maybe the Hokage came here so often it felt like a house or something like that.

"…" he couldn't really think of anything to say, and didn't want to look weak by stuttering through something. He searched his mind frantically, but still couldn't come up with a plausible 'why'.

"Well?" the Hokage raised his eyebrow. Amazingly, nothing else, not even the pipe stuck between his lips, moved. Naruto had always thought that with a face as wrinkled as that, everything would have to move if something did. Maybe he used a henge or something.

Suddenly a thought came to his mind, and he groaned.

With a resigned sigh, he lowered his head and brought an image (rather unwillingly) to mind, then concentrated on that. He also brought his fingers together.

He then muttered something under his breath, cringing as he did so. The Hokage raised a curious eyebrow, and waited for the smoke to clear, to leave a female with Naruto's coloring standing rather awkwardly. "H-hello," he said just as the Hokage seemed to realize what she wasn't wearing. His eyes bulged, and while Naruto looked on, he fainted from blood loss via his nose.

Naruto stood there for several seconds, staring at the body of the third ruler of the village, before trying (with little success) to shrug it off with a "che" and reverting back to his normal form. He hadn't expected it to really work.

After that, he didn't waste any more time, choosing to sprint the rest of the distance to the supposedly closed off room. Strangely enough, no guards were posted outside of the door, and for a few seconds, Naruto had to wonder why. Shaking his head, he shoved the thought from his mind and accepting his good fortune (he hoped).

It didn't take long to find the right scroll (he'd never really thought there could be a scroll THAT big) and get out of there.

As he left, leaping over the rooftops, he didn't see Mizuki in the shadows, watching him with a large smile.

"Now," the chuunin said to himself, "to raise he alarm…"

xXx

Iruka didn't really know what to think about the news as he raced through the trees. Naruto wasn't the kind of person to pull a prank, so the village had taken it as an outright threat and had started to comb the town. Most of the ninja on duty that night seemed to be out for blood. Iruka himself couldn't help but wonder what had possessed the child to even think of taking the scroll.

"Naruto," he muttered, finding himself a little surprised that he felt worry for the boy. Of course he would, though. He'd gotten to know Naruto recently, and had grown somewhat attached to the child. And then there was his theory about him not really being the demon fox after all…

He even had an idea as to where Naruto would hide. The forest enclosed inside the walls for training purposes ran pretty far into the village. Several places had jutsu on them that stopped those outside a certain area from feeling the chakra. This allowed even Jounin rank and higher to train as hard as possible without setting off an alarm with their chakra releases. Of course, for security purposes, they were changed on a regular basis.

He knew of several currently, and figured he'd just have to check them all. He wanted to be the first to get to Naruto. He didn't see it ending well if anyone else got to the boy before him. They'd fight, and use deadly force…

He couldn't bare the thought of letting one of his students die like that, let alone the thought of telling Sasuke the news if Naruto did die. The boy had already lost so much. Did he need to lose his only real friend too?

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't come up with a reason as to why Naruto would do something so stupidly dangerous (not to mention HOW he did it…the Hokage wasn't exactly easy to trick or out maneuver—it still boggled Iruka's mind as to how a mere child had pulled it off). There had to be something more to this, and he would not let anything happen to the blond boy until he found out what.

xXx

Naruto ached all over. He had pushed himself to the limit before, but never quite so hard as this. He'd had to do better than his best though so he could learn at least one jutsu before Mizuki showed up. Needless to say, he didn't trust Mizuki to keep his word (he'd said he would meet up with and teach the demon container). Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that all Mizuki really wanted was the scroll. Of course, the possibility that by some slim chance he could be telling the truth was the reason why Naruto had shown up at all. Besides, he was desperate. He'd really do just about anything at this point, even come to this place for Mizuki on the off chance that his suspicions were indeed misplaced. He wanted to graduate so badly he could almost taste it. He wanted to know the freedom of leaving the village; of getting outside those horrible front gates; of leaving all of this hatred behind.

With that in mind, he'd actually been able to do it. He'd learn a jutsu from this scroll. According to Mizuki, the scroll contained C and B rank jutsu that required a great deal of chakra to accomplish. Nartuo didn't just fit that, he seemed made for it.

Of course, the very first jutsu on the scroll had been a clone jutsu. Still, he figured having some kind of clone technique was better than not having any. If he could pull this one off, then they'd have no reason to fail him.

So he'd done it.

Trying not to collapse, he re-sealed the scroll, and used it for some support before strapping it onto his back again. Then he sat down to recover, and his breathing slowed marginally, but he still gasped for breath.

"Naruto!" He jumped and looked up. He'd been hoping he'd be able to recover a little bit more before Mizuki—

He cut off his own thoughts, blinking. "Iruka-Sensei?" he asked. If Iruka was there, did that mean that he really could pass with a jutsu like this? Maybe Mizuki hadn't been bluffing after all…or Iruka was in on the whole thing. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question!" Iruka growled. "What were you thinking? Taking the Scroll of Sealing?"

"Are you here with Mizuki-sensei?" he asked suspiciously.

His teacher paused and blinked. "Mizuki? What does he have to do with this?" Then understanding filled his eyes. "He told you to take the scroll, didn't he?"

Naruto frowned, shrugging in non-committed motion. He was many things, but not a fink.

"What did he tell you, Naruto? Please tell me."

The Jinchuriki looked back up at his teacher out of the corner of his eyes. Well, if he already knew… "He told me I had a chance of graduating if I learned a jutsu from this scroll."

The brown-haired man shook his head, "he what?"

"I did."

That caused the older man to pause, blinking. "You what?" Naruto wondered for a moment if that was all his teacher could say in surprising situations.

"I learned a jutsu."

The chuunin's face paled noticeably. "Which one?" he asked softly, making Naruto wonder about the scroll even more. Was this scroll that dangerous? He couldn't imagine it could be with only C and B rank jutsu, but then again, Mizuki could have lied about that one too…

"Kage Bushin," he said slowly.

Iruka (while looking somewhat relieved) continued to blink at him. "But you can't even do a basic bushin. How—"

"I don't know," he said, scratching his head absently. "It seemed easier than—"

Suddenly, Iruka felt the presence behind him, and shoved Naruto out of the way, causing the boy to cry out in surprise. In doing so, he didn't have time himself to dodge the barrage of kunai that shot at him. He felt several of the knives nick him, and one buried itself deep into his leg, but fortunately for him (either by the attacker's bad throwing or some decent amount of twisting his body to dodge even a little), nothing too serious. With all the pain a simple wound like that was giving off, though, it had to have hit a nerve or something.

"I'm surprised you found out about this place, Iruka," a condescending voice drifted through the clearing.

Iruka looked up with a pain-filled but still rather effective glare. "So that's how it is," he growled. Mizuki watched them with an amused expression on his face, still crouched from the tree branch he'd landed on.

"Naruto," his focus turned to the blond, "give me the scroll." Naruto just glared, his face taking on a dangerously neutral expression. Apparently he'd been right about Mizuki after all.

"Naruto," Iruka never took his eyes off of the silver-haired chuunin, even as he pulled the kunai from his leg. "Don't you let him get that scroll, no matter what. It's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden techniques on it. B-rank through S-rank…the kind of jutsu that can kill their users."

The blond ground his teeth together. So it had all been a trick to try and kill him. Of course it made sense. If he would have died learning any jutsu on the scroll, then Mizuki could have taken it and said that Naruto had destroyed it, and no one would have been any the wiser. Plus, they'd get rid of the "Demon Brat".

"Mizuki just used you to get ahold of it!" Iruka continued.

'Duh', Naruto thought, but didn't trust himself to open his mouth. Instead he continued to glare up at platinum-haired chuunin.

The amused expression never left his face. "Iruka just doesn't want you to graduate. He's afraid of you having the scroll." Naruto ran that through his mind a few times, and surprisingly enough, found it conceivable. Iruka and Mizuki had both changed their attitude towards him. At least one of them was a traitor, and wanted him dead, so conceivably, it could be either one. "I wouldn't have told you about the scroll in the first place if I didn't think you could do it."

"What are you saying, Mizuki?" the dark-haired chuunin found it hard to control his temper through the pain from his leg. Almost desperately, he turned to Naruto. "Don't listen to him, Naruto!"

"How about I tell you the truth?" the silver-haired ninja laughed.

Well, Iruka hadn't been expecting that. "W-what? Don't!" he yelled.

"The Third Hokage created a rule 12 years ago, right after it happened."

At this Naruto found himself relaxing a bit. Obviously Mizkui didn't realize that he knew what rule the older man referred to.

"The one about a demon fox being sealed inside of me?" Both chuunin's eyes widened in surprise and they stepped back. Iruka recovered first, almost wanting to celebrate. He had been right after all.

"Sealed?" Apparently Mizuki recovered rather quickly too. "Is that what they told you? I don't know who broke the law and actually spilled the beans, but they're wrong!" Naruto's slight smile vanished into his normal, neutral face, but he said nothing. "No, you ARE the monster fox, Naruto!" the chuunin said, a sort of mad glee tainting his words. Again, Naruto didn't speak. "You killed Iruka's parents, and he knew I'd tell you about the scroll so you could pass. He doesn't trust you, and he doesn't want you to pass."

"STOP!" Iruka screamed.

Mizuki seemed to regain his composure, realizing that he had to be careful around the blond. "I'm the only one who ever really cared about you. Now let's hurry up and take the scroll back before Iruka gets it!" He held out his hand, doing his best to resist the urge to smirk down at the wounded shinobi.

Naruto looked back and forth between the two chuunin for a few moments, contemplating his options. What Mizuki said made sense…but there had been subtle things, the glee in his voice when he accused Naruto of being the Nine-tails, or the way he seemed to snub his nose to both of them, not to mention the obvious eagerness in his steps and movements. Besides, if the scroll wasn't as dangerous as Iruka said, why did Mizuki want it so badly?

"No," he said finally, gritting and showing his teeth again. "If you want the scroll, you're gonna have to take it."

Mizuki's kind act vanished in an instant, replaced by anger, and then the look of sheer, mad glee. "Then DIE!"

Naruto saw the giant Shurikien aimed for his skull coming at him only seconds before it hit. Everything seemed to move into slow motion, and his body didn't respond nearly as quickly as he needed it to.

He heard Iruka shout something, but couldn't seem to comprehend the words. 'I'm really going to die,' he thought to himself, his eyes wide as he stumbled back and started to fall, unable to take his eyes off of the deadly weapon until he hit the ground, closed them and braced for the impact.

It never came.

After a few seconds, he tentatively opened his eyes. Everything seemed deceptively calm and still, but the moonlight had been blocked by something…or someone. Almost unwilling to believe, he looked up to see Iruka-sensei's face contorted in pain as he protected Naruto from the Shurikien, using his own body.

Iruka willed himself to stay upright, and not fall on the boy he'd almost given his life to protect. Somehow, he'd managed to leave all of his weapons behind (yet another reason why he remained a chuunin), but by intercepting the Shurikien at just the right angle, it hadn't cleaved him straight through, only hitting his lower back right off of his spine, and piercing the bottom of one lung. He found that to be a far better than the alternative of watching his student die.

"I-Iruka-sensei…" he heard Naruto say. He coughed, accidentally dropping some blood on the boy's cheek. He'd have to apologize for that if they got out of this alive. "Why?" Iruka could see it in the boy's eyes. He probably would have never accepted the fact that an adult would do that for him…especially one who knew about him.

"Because…" he said, concentrating on not spitting up any more fluid. "You're like me… You never had any parents to love you. I know how it is to watch other children and their parents. I know what it's like to be lonely. Also, you're my student so I can't let you die like that. And the last reason, is because Sasuke asked me to."

Naruto didn't really know how to react to that. Vaguely, his mind wondered why Mizuki hadn't attacked, and somehow realized that the junior teacher was afraid that Iruka would do something to the scroll before he could get there.

"Gomene, Naruto. He wouldn't have had to say anything if I were more aware."

"Don't make me laugh!" Mizuki yelled down to them. "Iruka has hated you since you killed his parents! He just wants you to give up that scroll without a fight."

Well, Naruto obviously didn't believe that…but the words Iruka had just said really bothered him. So the only reason anyone thought he was worth anything was because of that stupid Uchiha? Did they care so much about the prodigy that they'd even go so far as to protect the Demon Brat if he said so?

Iruka didn't care about him at all.

Unable to stand it anymore, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment: he ran.

"Naruto!" Iruka called after him, but he didn't slow down. He had to get away. Away from the traitors who had betrayed his trust. Maybe he could make it to the walls of Konoha and get out of here for good. He didn't care if he became a missing nin. Of course, how many people would consider an academy student a missing nin? They'd still chase him, but he'd find some way to get away. He'd return the scroll to the old man as thanks, and then just leave.

Of course, to get away, he'd have to hide from Iruka and Mizuki. They'd catch up with him soon enough.

Not even bothering to acknowledge the thought with a nod, he jumped down to the forest floor, and scrambled behind a tree, waiting for the other two to pass him by.

xXx

Mizuki laughed as he landed behind Iruka, fully enjoying how much pain the "senior" sensei was being put through at the moment.

"Looks like he's easy to sway after all," he said. "I'll bet he's on his way to taking revenge on the village with that scroll right now. You saw it in his eyes, didn't you…the eyes of a Demon Fox."

Iruka reached behind and forcibly removed the shurikien, trying not to wince or cry out as he did so. "No," he said, standing up. "Naruto won't DO THAT!" he flipped around as quickly as he could, lunching the shurikien back at its master.

Mizuki dodged easily with a smirk. "Hn," he said through that stupid grin, "As long as I kill Naruto and get the scroll, I'm okay." He continued to look on as Iruka braced himself so he could remain standing with as little effort as possible. Mizuki liked the idea of capturing Naruto and killing him in front of Iruka, just to see his reaction. "I think I'll take care of you later," he said, and leapt into the air.

Iruka watched him with a determined expression. "I won't let you," he said through his teeth.

xXx

The third Hokage watched everything from his personal mirror. It had taken him forever to develop a seal that would allow him to see anything he wished (within a certain radius of course), but he'd done it. He'd never regretted it once, no matter how painful the images he saw. He could keep people much safer this way.

Still, as he watched Iruka take a beating for the boy, he wondered if it would do Naruto any good. The boy had always been so distant…so cold.

Still, he had faith in the boy. Faith he hoped wasn't misplaced like it had been with other ninja… He shook that thought from his head. Many ninja had defected and essentially betrayed the village in his time, although only one he'd really had faith in like he had faith in Naruto…

With more than a little anticipation, and ANBU on hand, ready to call at any moment, he continued to watch the scene unfold.

xXx

"I found him," the brown-haired chuunin said to himself as he came up on a chakra signature. He couldn't tell much about the chakra signature, as in who it was, but the small frame gave it away well enough.

"Naruto!" he said as he caught up, "what Mizuki said back there was all a lie! Give me the scroll! That's what he's after!"

The blond paused on one branch, changing directions to intercept. Iruka held his hands out, expecting the scroll. Instead, he got a rater hard punch to the stomach that sent him flying, kicking up leaves, sticks and whatever else lay on the forest floor. He'd undoubtedly have several painful, if superficial wounds from that.

"W-what?" he managed to breathe out as Naruto took off the scroll and collapsed against a tree. "How…how did you know that I wasn't Iruka?" The henge dropped away, leaving the silver-haired chuunin in place of Iruka.

"Simple," Naruto grinned knowingly. "I'm Iruka." With that, his own henge poofed out of existence, leaving a wounded teacher in his place.

Mizuki stood up. "I see," he said, turning to the older chuunin. "What good does it do you to protect the one who killed your parents?"

"I'm not going to let an idiot like you get that scroll," Iruka replied, ignoring Mizuki's question.

"You're the idiot," Mizuki didn't hesitate in his comeback. "Naruto is just like me…no worse."

"What do you mean?"

Neither of the men noticed the small presence hiding behind a tree as he listened into their conversation. Of all the luck, why did they have to land there?

"Anything is possible with that scroll," he said, nonchalantly. "There's no way a monster like Naruto wouldn't use its power."

Iruka paused for a second before he shrugged. "Yeah, you're right."

Naruto didn't move a muscle from behind the tree, but something snapped inside of him. Anything he felt suddenly went numb. Iruka had said the straw that broke the camel's back. He didn't care about him AND he believed Naruto was the Demon Fox-the one who had killed his parents and terrorized the town. So he didn't acknowledge Naruto to be the child he really was…or anything worth while, really.

If Naruto hadn't met the Fox himself, he might have believed them. But explaining it to anyone wouldn't do any good. If people thought he was a monster then—

"If he was the fox."

Despite himself, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

Mizuki laughed again. "So you really do believe that the fox was only sealed inside of him?"

Iruka shrugged again. "I don't care."

"Huh?" the silver-haired man stopped, eying Iruka suspiciously, and voicing Naruto's thoughts out loud.

"Even if he was the fox, he isn't now, so it doesn't matter." Mizuki opened his mouth to say something, but Iruka cut him off and continued. "Sasuke pointed it out to me. He's not even a genin, and he could see things that chuunin can't. After that, I saw how people hated him, and then how he acted in return. I came to see that he really is his own person, not a Demon. He works so hard, and keeps going despite how everyone around him tells him not to. Therefore, I don't care if he really is a demon or not."

"Even if he killed your parents?" Mizuki's voice raised in pitch several notches.

Iruka shook his head. "You don't get it. No one deserves to be hated like that. I don't mind giving him the benefit of the doubt. He's no monster fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha."

"You know," Mizuki unstrapped his second Shurikien. "You're an idiot. I was going to kill you later, but I take that back. DIE NOW!"

Just as he went to launch the Shurikien, a black and blue blur rushed in, colliding with the other man's face, and causing the Shurikien to jeer severely off course.

"Naruto!" Iruka's eyes widened as the boy stood up, as stalwart as ever.

"If you lay a finger on him," he said calmly, "I'll kill you," he turned to glance over his shoulder at Iruka. "I don't think Sasuke would forgive me if I let him die."

Mizuki stood up, glaring at the blond. "Talk while you can, kid, 'cause I'm gonna finish you off!"

Naruto only responded by making a seal. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu," he said, his voice still firm and unshaken. "You may be able to take on one of me…but can you take on this many?" The woods surrounding them suddenly held several HUNDRED shadow clones. The sheer number alone caused the two chuunins to balk.

"W-what? Sh-shadow clones? You can't use shadow clones at your level?"

"If you won't come at me," one clone said nonchalantly.

"Then I guess we'll just have to come and get you," another one finished. With that, they moved in, burying the traitor under a mass of clones. After a few minutes, Naruto dispersed the clones, leaving Mizuki in a black, blue, red and twitching heap on the ground.

Not really looking at Iruka, and seeming to study a tree off to the side, he paused. Finally, after several seconds, he spoke, his voice almost pouting. "You okay, Sensei?" he asked.

"Yeah…" he responded, still getting over the shock that was Naruto. This kid could probably surpass most of the legendary ninja that had come before them. Just tonight, Iruka had seen more potential than he'd ever realized before. If he didn't pass this kid, it would hurt Konoha more than help it. He could see that now.

"Come here, Naruto." The boy looked suspiciously at Iruka, but complied. "Close your eyes."

Naruto blinked at him for several seconds, before folding his arms. "No."

"What? Why not?"

"What're you going to do?" he asked.

Iruka pursed his lips in frustration. "It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises."

"You'll like this one."

Naruto stood there for several seconds. "You know, you could just give me the stupid headband," he muttered, unable to keep a smile out of his voice.

The teacher sighed in defeat. "Here," he reached up and tugged the hitai-ate off of his head before holding it out to Naruto. "This symbolizes your loyalty to Konoha, and your willingness to protect others. Wear it with pride." When Naruto still didn't come forward, Iruka felt a vein on his forehead start to thump. "Listen, it's the only one I have on me, okay. Do you want to graduate or not?"

Blinking, Naruto stepped over to him finally, and took the blue cloth in his hand. He hadn't really expected it. He'd said that as more of a joke, or a hopeful but impractical suggestion…but now he…

"Really?" he breathed, not sure this had all happened.

"I'll get you a new one later, okay?"

"No," Naruto looked up, and for the first that he could remember, Iruka saw a genuine smile on his face. Not a big one. More of a smirk, really, but he could see the real feeling of appreciation behind it. "I'll keep this one."

Iruka couldn't help but smile himself, feeling touched. "Alright, Naruto. To celebrate, I'll treat you to Raman!"

"Aw man," Naruto groaned.

* * *

I would like everyone to take a look at this: chiemiangel. deviantart. com(slash) art/Naruto-FF-Walk-Two-Lifetimes-103007045 (without spaces and change the (slash) to a / please...FFnet is really starting to tick me off with their "lets never have anyone leave this site, heaven forbid someone does a comic for one of the stories" attitude/policy Not alowing for a question mark and an exclamation point to be next to each other is bugging me too) But fan art...I have fan art...and it's a great series of sketches too! I feel so totally loved!

Thank you guys again, so much. This story is finally gaining some decent recognition, and so...just thank you. It's by far my most popular story. I still love hearing criticism and pointers, so if you see anything please say. :D Just don't expect me to sit back and take it. I have reasons for doing things, and I'll tell you why, but I like hearing opinions anyway, and sometimes my reasoning stinks. SO please review! Thanks again!


	21. Konohamaru

*note* I'm using the word "teme" because in Japan it's not really considered a swear word, although it is considered rather derogatory. There's a reason I'm not translating it. I don't like the English translation, as it can be considered profanity.

Ch 4 (21)

"But it looks…creepy," Sasuke muttered as he looked at the picture topping his friend's ninja registration sheet. Because of his later registration, Naruto had been the last one to come in and have it approved. Even though Sasuke had already come, they both decided to come at the same time (Naruto probably couldn't have stopped Sasuke…he'd considered trying). All the profile said was, "Dedicated to getting the job done." Sasuke had thought it just meant information about the ninja, so he'd put his favorite food and hobby (playing pranks) in that space. The picture had him looking at the camera with a glare that…well…made him look evil or something.

Naruto looked over at the blue-eyed boy with a blank face. He seemed awfully subdued compared to when he'd broken the news of him actually passing (YOU DID! YATTA!!!!! LET'S GET RAMEN TO CELEBRATE!). Afterwards, he'd been taken to Ichiraku's for the second time that day, when he'd barely been able to stomach the first trip. It hadn't been a pleasant memory.

He almost wanted to ask what was wrong…almost. Knowing the teme, he'd probably tell him whenever he felt like it.

"Hey, Naruto…" speak of the devil. Sasuke lowered the sheet onto his lap, already forgotten.

"Hm," the blond grunted in response.

"After we get on separate teams, do you think we'll still be friends?" Naruto continued to stare ahead at the floorboards of the school. He didn't quite know how to respond to that. He hadn't particularly wanted to be Sasuke's friend to begin with…but for some reason, he didn't want to tell the blond that.

Thankfully, before he could answer, he was called into the room by the chuunin who had been assigned to help the Hokage with the registration sheets.

"Good luck, Naruto!" Sasuke stood up and flashed him a cheesy, fox-like grin and a thumb's up. Naruto shook his head as he entered the room. Sometimes he swore the other kid had two personalities.

xXx

"Hmm," Sasuke muttered to himself as he waited for Naruto to come back out. He'd only been gone for a few seconds, but still… "I know! I'll go get some Ramen for us when he gets out!" With that, he grinned and set off down the hall. He didn't notice the small shadow that approached the door almost as soon as the brunette turned the corner.

xXx

"Approved," the Sandaime smiled with a grin as he looked over the sheet. Naruto had done a good job with the application. The old man doubted they'd have to change much more than the picture as he got older.

Naruto stood up, his face emotionless, and bowed. "Arigato, Sandaime-san," he said politely.

Then, everyone's attention turned to the door. A very young presence could easily be sensed just outside it.

Not two seconds later, the door burst open, and a 9-year-old child with a long blue scarf tied around his neck came rushing through the door. "Fight me!" he yelled, aiming for the Hokage, who hadn't moved. "The title of Fifth Hokage belongs to me! Kona-" he got cut off as he immediately ran into an outstretched arm that appeared very suddenly in front of him.

Everyone in the room looked, surprised, to the owner of that arm.

"Naruto…" Sandaime said softly. Standing above the fallen boy as if he didn't have a care in the world, Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets and turned around, heading back for the seat he'd only just left. He stopped when he heard a shriek from the door.

A man wearing black and sunglasses under his Konoha bandana stood in the doorframe, looking something between horrified, shocked and angry.

"Y-you! You hurt the third Hokage's Grandson!"

At that, Naruto stopped. He didn't turn around. Konahamaru, cradling his aching nose, got onto his knees, a smile crossing his face. 'He stopped, just like Ebisu and everyone else.'

"So what?" the blond shrugged, and continued his trek back to his seat. "I'd do it again, if he tries to hurt the Hokage."

Konohamaru's mouth dropped open as he stared at the boy from behind. Ebisu came over and picked him up off of the ground, dusting him off while sending the now seated graduate scathing glances. "You shouldn't get involved with someone like that. You're the Hokage's grandson, you know." Konohamaru didn't respond, choosing instead to look down to the side. "I, the elite teacher Ebisu, am never wrong. You wish to become Fifth Hokage, right? If you…" he continued to prattle on, obviously full of himself. Naruto watched with a bored expression for a few moments before he turned and left. His eyebrow raised a few centimeters when he noticed that Kohonamaru had decided to follow him…while his teacher apparently hadn't even noticed. Naruto could STILL hear him half-way down the hall. He'd been gone for a full 12 seconds before the guy even noticed.

Naruto snorted softly. Best way to become Hokage is to learn from him, huh? Yeah, in the guys dreams.

He glanced around, noticing that Sasuke hadn't waited for him, and frowned. That wasn't like the normal Uchiha, unless…

"Oh man," he muttered. Knowing Sasuke, he'd gone out for more celebration food. That meant more Ramen. That also meant, if Naruto knew what was good for him, he'd better get out of there.

He hurried out of the school, but only at a normal person's pace. He wasn't in any hurry to get back to his apartment, as that would be the first place Sasuke would look for him.

Besides, that brat from before was still trailing him…and rather obviously too.

He glanced over his shoulder, only to see the boy throw a blanket over himself. While it matched the pavement and dirt on the road, the fact that Naruto could see his sandals, and the fact that it was pretty obvious it hadn't been there before really made it stand out. Sighing in frustration, he turned around and continued to walk away.

After a few more seconds of the boy following him, he stopped. "What are you doing?" he asked. "And why are you following—" he cut off when he turned around, realizing that the boy had used Sasuke's chakra blanket trick…except he channeled the chakra the wrong way, making the supposed wooden planks run horizontal instead of vertical…

"You're really obvious, you know," Naruto muttered, ignoring the pulsing vein in his head.

Konohamaru lowered the blanket, a sly smile crossing his chubby face. "You noticed. Something I should expect from the guy I've heard rumors about."

Naruto immediately went on guard. "What kind of rumors…" he asked cautiously.

Konohamaru shrugged. "Only that other people are scared of you."

"Scared?" Naruto asked slowly.

Konohamaru ignored his implied question and walked up to him. "But I don't mind being your follower."

It was official. He'd found someone even more annoying than Sasuke. The realization sent a shock of fear through his body. "In return," Konohamaru continued, completely unaware of (or just outright ignoring) Naruto's sudden unease. "I hear you actually were able to get past the Hokage Geezer! Teach me that technique!"

Naruto was not a boy of emotions. He preferred to keep a rather calm and cool exterior, rarely letting anything pierce it. However, he could not stop his face from contorting into absolute and complete horror at the younger boy's words.

"No way in—"

"Naruto!" Well, his life just got worse. He'd have to go home and hide under his little blanket for the next 10 years to get over this. Sasuke came bounding up to them, Ramen in hand. Sometimes, Naruto hated being right.

xXx

Sarutabi couldn't keep a grin off of his face. He'd watched Naruto take down his Grandson, and had been thankful that the graduate would take Konohamaru down a few notches, but what had really gotten to him was what he'd said afterwards.

_"I'd do it again if you try to hurt the Hokage." _

Another memory came to him.

_"Well, what about me?" Sarutobi finally responded. Naruto paused and looked back at him. "Do you care about me?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"So," Sandeime__ smiled down, "why don't you become a ninja to protect yourself, and me." _

_Naruto nodded and then went back to his little toy._

"I guess he hasn't forgotten after all," Sarutobi grinned. For some reason, that brightened up his whole day, and even while going through the mountain of paperwork on his desk, he couldn't help but grin widely, scaring just about everyone who came into the office.

xXx

"So this kid wants to learn that, huh?" Sasuke laughed and slurped through his noodles.

"Hai, hai!" Konohamaru grinned up at him through his own food (that had originally been intended for Naruto. At least the boy was good for something).

Naruto just grunted.

"Alright," Sasuke stood up, raising his chop sticks above his head in a triumphant pose. "I'll teach it to you!"

"Kill me now," Naruto muttered.

Konohamaru looked up at him for a moment before turning away in a pout. "No!" he said.

Sasuke, looking all too surprised, turned to face the younger boy's back. "Why?"

Without skipping a beat, the child turned his nose in the air. "Because I want boss to teach me!" With that, he pointed at Naruto, who backed away, his eye twitching. Why did he feel so sick?

"B-boss?" he managed to stutter out.

"Hai! Boss! Boss! Boss!" he yelled.

"Lke that's going to help," Naruto muttered.

"Please!" the boy actually dropped to his knees before Naruto. Both of the other boys stared in mix of disbelief and shock. No one ever did that to Naruto…

Finally, Naruto (glancing up at Sasuke desperately for help, although he'd never admit it) leaned forward to pat the kid on the head and tell him "no" nicely.

"Hey!" Sasuke butted in, bending down and throwing an arm around the kid's shoulders. "How about this. I'll show you, and Naruto here'll supervise. How about that?"

Konohamaru pursed his lips, thinking for a second.

"Alright," he said. "I work for you," he pointed to Sasuke, "and you work for the Boss."

Naruto blinked, somewhat surprised when he realized he kind of liked the sound of this arrangement.

"I what?!" Sasuke shrieked.

xXx

"To do any technique well, you need two things," Sasuke spoke, trying to sound as sage-like as possible, one finger in the air to supposedly emphasize the point. In Naruto's opinion, he just looked like an idiot. Of course, no one else on the fairly crowded street would agree with him that the amazing Uchiha (to anyone who didn't know him or had been the brunt of one of his pranks) had any problems at all whatsoever, but--

"Two things?" Konohomaru asked, interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

"Hard work and guts."

Naruto hid his snort (although Sasuke ignored it anyway). "Knowledge doesn't hurt either," he muttered. "And clan secrets."

"Really?" Konahomaru clenched his fists, determination setting over his face.

"That's right," Sasuke nodded with a grin. "I'll train you hard, so prepare yourself!"

"Teme," Naruto muttered. Sasuke turned and shot a glare at him, but again (amazingly) ignored him.

"Roger, lieutenant boss!" the young Sandaime yelled out.

Sasuke's eye started to twitch. "Lieutenant…" After a few seconds, he sighed. "Let's see you transform now, then."

"Huh?"

"I have to see how good your ninja techniques are," Sasuke explained. It took everything in Naruto's power to not laugh outright at that. The kid was a disgrace if all of his other ninja skills matched his tracking skills (or lack thereof).

Konohomaru looked to be at a slight loss. A few bystanders smiled at them as he contemplated this. "What should I transform into?" he asked.

Sasuke looked around, biting on his lip as he looked for something for his new 'student'. Finally, he saw a woman standing by a vendor, looking through his vegetable selection.

"Tranform into her," he said confidently.

"It's my pleasure," Konahomaru said in his usual determined tone.

"This should be interesting," Naruto muttered sarcastically, wondering if he could sneak off without them noticing.

The younger boy put his hands together and, while still looking at the girl, said the name of the jutsu. "Henge!" A cloud of smoke appeared around him, signaling that it had indeed worked. As soon as it began to clear, Naruto fell off of his perch on a fence, face-planting.

"So, do I look like her?" Konohamaru asked in a deep voice. Instead of a slender, shapely female figure, the woman that stood before them had large rolls of fat practically bursting out from anythere imaginable. She looked horribly distorted, and like she had constipation.

"Well…" Sasuke gulped, "the clothes are perfect."

"Sasuke!" The ninja heard Naruto call to him, and turned around. Behind him, stood the woman he'd tried to get the young Sarutobi to henge into…and she did not look happy. "Uh-oh," he gulped and shrank back.

"What's so similar?!" she hissed, glowering at him. Next thing Sasuke knew, he was on the ground with a rather painful bump on his head. Naruto balked. Apparently even Uchihas couldn't insult a woman and not get away with it.

Meanwhile, the woman walked up to Konohamaru. "Please try to be a little cuter when you attempt to transform into me, okay?" she grinned, and walked away, her blue kimono and dark hair swaying with every step.

"She's scary…" Konohomaru whispered, apparently frozen and shaking.

"Why did I have to get hit?" Sasuke asked from the ground.

Naruto found himself awfully glad that no one was looking at him at that moment, because he couldn't help but grin goofily at the scene. He managed to turn the smile into a scoff. "You opened your mouth," he commented. Konohamaru burst out laughing, and Sasuke turned around to glare at him. Fortunately by that time, he'd been able to hide the smile.

xXx

"You're gonna get in trouble," Naruto pointed out from his position leaning against a patched-up wall to one of the stores near one of the smaller bookstores in Konoha.

"We have to do pheromone research," Sasuke snuffed, his nose in the air as he walked up to the sliding door.

Konohamaru followed. "Yeah, boss," he agreed.

"Isn't he supposed to be listening to me?" Naruto muttered as he watched the two disappear inside. Naruto figured he'd have to stick around for this one. Silently, he reached into his pocked and pulled out the camera.

Four minutes later, both boys came running and screaming out of the door, dodging whips from the store-owner as he swung his horsewhip at them.

While nothing too particular happened other than that, Naruto did get a few good blackmail pictures.

xXx

"This is our last stop!" Sasuke said as they stood in front of one particular building.

"Roger, Lieutenant Boss!"

Naruto couldn't help but stare in shock. The familiar eye-twitch had come back too. "You two aren't actually going IN there, are you?" he asked.

"Let's put our heart and soul into it!" Sasuke and, putting his hands together in the seal.

"Hai!" Konohamaru yelled, following the older boy's example. One puff of smoke later, the same distorted girl (Except with uglier hair) stood in Konohamaru's clothing, and a dark-haired beauty stood in an orange and yellow kimono.

Naruto had thought he knew Sasuke very well…but now he was seeing him in a whole new light. This kid was devious, and strange, and willing to sink to just about any level necessary to accomplish his goal.

As Naruto watched them go in, his eyes widened in realization. How he'd described the Sasuke just now resembled how he'd describe a true shinobi...minus the using stupid jutsu. With more than a little curiosity, he watched the doors of the bath house, wondering when they'd come back--

His newly found respect for Naruto vanished immediately when several screams came from inside the building.

"You again, Sasuke?!" someone hollered.

"He could at least have picked a place they didn't know him," Naruto muttered. So Sasuke'd been here before. The blond wasn't sure if he felt impressed or disgusted by that.

xXx

Of course, it if had been Naruto going in there, he'd have gotten pounded. Since it was the Uchiha, he got away with a slap on the wrist in comparison. Still, he probably wouldn't be able to sit down very well for a few days until the bruises healed.

"I told you you'd get in trouble," the dark-eyed boy muttered, for the hundredth time wondering why he was still there.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, rubbing his sore behind.

"Gomen."

Both boys turned to look at the shortest member of the trio. "It's because I'm the grandson of the Hokage."

Sasuke looked the youngest boy over for a moment in confusion before shrugging it off. "Whatever."

"Huh?" Konohamaru looked up in surprise.

"Your preparation is now complete!" Sasuke ignored the boy's questioning look completely. "Now all you need to do is practice!"

Naruto sighed. "How is all of this supposed to help him?"

"Right, Lieutenant Boss!"

"Huh?!"

"Alright," Sasuke grinned. "Go for it!"

"Henge!" Konohamaru hollered, and a cloud of smoke formed around him.

"You freaks are two of a kind," Naruto muttered and walked over to a tree to take a nap. He most certainly didn't want to look at the results of their 'training', whether they succeeded or (he suppressed a shudder) not.

By the time they took a break, he'd long-since fallen asleep.

xXx

"Where is he?" Ebisu asked himself, more than a little worried for his student. He stood on top of one of many outposts, searching the town for the two boys. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why the Hokage wasn't worried. Well then, he'd have to do enough worrying for both of them.

"Anyone who does anything to my student, they will be eliminated!" he threatened to thin air, and then vanished.

xXx

"So," Sasuke handed Konohamaru a soda from a nearby machine, "why are you so fixated on Hokage-sama anyway?"

The young brunette looked up at him for a moment, before turning back to his soda, frowning. "Grandpa gave me this name," he said as he dragged his feet through the sparse grass of the training area they'd come to. "Konohamaru. He got it from the name of the village." Sasuke nodded, following him so far, but wondering what on Earth that had to do with anything. "Everyone knows it. I know they do. But no one calls me that. They only call me 'the Hokage's Grandson'." His expression darkened. "No one sees me as a person, and I hate that. That's why I want to be the Hokage now."

For some reason, that seemed to strike a chord with Sasuke. It wasn't like he knew what that was like, everyone always called him Sasuke. But he also knew that they only knew him because of his family. Maybe when they looked at him, they only saw his murdered clan…or Itachi. That's why he played so many pranks and trained so hard....

"Idiot," he said finally. Konohamaru blinked in surprise and looked over at the dark-haired graduate. "Who's going to recognize someone like you?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke sighed. "The title of Hokage isn't a title a child like you can carry around so easily," he said, not realizing he'd slipped back into using more proper language, remnants from growing up in a prestegious clan.

"What?!" Konohamaru stood up, shaking a fist and more than ready for a fight.

Sasuke looked over at him. With no smile on his face, he looked more than a little serious, and extremely threatening, but Konohamaru didn't back down. "I said, it's not easy. You keep saying 'Hokage, Hokage'. If you want that title so badly…" he trailed off.

"Then what?" the younger boy asked through his gritted teeth.

"Then," Sasuke turned, a smile finally returning to his face, and his eyes red with Sharingan. "You'll have to defeat me."

Konohamaru blinked in surprise. Sasuke wanted to be Hokage too? But the way he looked at Konohamaru…he really saw him, just like Naruto had…

"I've found you!"

Both boys turned around on the log they'd taken a seat on to see Ebisu on one of the trees. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Another voice from behind them. This time everyone turned to see Naruto standing like he didn't have a care in the world just outside of the shadow of the tree he'd been taking a nap under. "If you couldn't sense me, then you're even more pathetic of a ninja than I thought."

Ebisu ground his teeth together before turning to Sasuke. "I'm sorry, Uchiha-san," he said, "But I'm going to take Young Master home."

"NO!" Konohamaru yelled. "I'm going to go and defeat the Hokage and get that title for myself right now! Don't bother me!" He stamped his foot.

Ebisu began to walk forward. "The title of Hokage is something you receive after you understand the principles of morality, knowledge, loyalty, family unity, and can use more than 1000 techniques," he scoffed.

Konohamaru wouldn't hear anymore. With that old look of determination, he slapped his hands together in a seal. "Henge!" he yelled. A cloud of smoke appeared around him. Naruto turned his eyes away, not wanting to see the result. "How's my sexy no jutsu?" he heard a young woman's voice ask.

Ebisu looked more than a little horrified. Naruto wasn't sure if it showed that the 'technique' had worked or not.

"It didn't work?" Konohamaru asked, sounding a little worried.

"What a horribly indecent technique!" he yelped. "I'm a gentleman! I'll never fall for something so pathetic as that!" Then he turned and pointed to Naruto. "You taught him this, didn't you?!"

Naruto glared up at him for a moment. "So what if I did?"

"Naruto," Sasuke said from off to the side.

"Young master, you're only going to get dumber and dumber if you hang around him!" the teacher scolded as he tugged at the blue scarf.

Sasuke felt his fists tighten. "Take that back," he said.

"Huh?" the man looked up at the Uchiha.

"I said, take that back," the dark-haired boy looked up, and Ebisu gasped.

"He really has awoken his Sharingan…" he whispered, then shook his head. "Why do you defend that brat?!"

"Because he's my friend," Sasuke growled.

Naruto, off to the side, made a seal himself. "Hey, teme," he said. Sasuke blinked and looked over at him. "If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll kill you."

While Sasuke looked rather confused and taken aback, Ebisu looked even more aghast than he had before, if possible. "How dare you threaten—"

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu," he said. A good forty or so bushins appeared around him.

"Kage Bushin?" Sasuke asked.

"Just use your Bushin," Naruto growled. "Make as many as you can."

Sasuke blinked but nodded. "Bushin no Jutsu," he said. Six clones appeared beside him.

"Now follow my lead," Naruto grinned.

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "Wow, that's amazing, Boss!"

Ebisu scoffed openly. "I am an elite teacher, even if I don't look like one," he said. "I am not Mizuki." With that, he dropped into an offensive crouch, ready to attack.

"Let's see how much of a gentleman you really are," Naruto rolled his eyes. Then, he seemed to realize something and gulped. "Please let no one else see," he whispered before he yelled out "Henge, Sexy no Jutsu!"

If Sasuke had been confused before, he was nothing short of absolutely flabbergasted now. Since when did Naruto--

"Sasuke! Now!" he heard Naruto yell through the cloud of smoke that had appeared all around him.

"H-hai!" Sasuke said, and brought his hands together. "Sexy no Jutsu!"

"HUH?!" Ebisu looked more than a little shocked, and backed away a few steps. Naruto almost felt sorry for the guy with the utterly helpless face he gave. Almost.

Then, all of his clones rushed forward, Sasuke's own intangible ones right behind. "Ebisu-sama!" they called out as they latched onto him. Apparently, he couldn't take anymore. In a blood spout that had yet to be rivaled by anyone else (including the Hokage), he practically blew himself away, ending up in a dazed crouch on the forest floor.

In a puff of smoke, the clones all cleared away, leaving only Naruto and Sasuke standing behind, the latter staring in shock at the former.

"B-but, how…"

"Idiot," Naruto muttered, "I've always been decent with a henge."

"Boss!" Konohamaru ran up to them, "Leiutenant Boss! That was incredible!" Then he turned around, his face falling. "Grrr! I couldn't even defeat four-eyes teacher! I want the title that will make everyone recognize me, so why?!"

Sasuke sighed again. "I told you it's not that easy."

"What?" Konohamaruo turned to face him.

"You want the title of the man that everyone knows and recognizes, but he's also the man that everyone looks to for protection," he turned and looked up at the trees in contemplation. "There will be a lot of trials and hardships."

"You know," Naruto said as he shoved his hands back into his pockets, "it takes a lot to escape a name that's been made for you. You have to work hard to change that."

Sasuke grinned over at his friend before turning back to Konohamaru. "So you're going to have to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

Sasuke smiled and turned to walk away. "Prepared for the title that everyone will recognize and look up to." The evening wind began to blow around them, causing leaves to dance in the air and rustling the trees, making it a little bit more difficult for Konohamaru to hear, so he strained. He had to hear this. "And you have to be prepared for the fact," Sasuke looked over his shoulder with a grin, "that there's no shortcut."

The look on the older boy's face reminded Konohamaru of Sasuke telling him he'd have to beat him. With a chuckle, he grinned.

"Hm," he said. "You two, lecturing me like you're all that," he turned his own back on the two. "I quit being your follower. From today on, you're both my rivals." He imitated Sasuke, looking over his shoulder with a toothless grin.

"Che," Naruto shrugged and began walking away. Sasuke smiled down at Konohamaru.

"Staring tomorrow," Sasuke commented, "I'm going to be a ninja. But someday," he pointed at Konohamaru, "I'm going to battle you for the title of Hokage. Until then, look forward to it, K?" With that, he turned and began to jog to catch up with Naruto. As he did, he put his hand in the air, bidding his 'former student' a farewell.

Konohamaru watched the two boys who were actually able to see him walk away, and in final tribute, clicked his heals together and gave them a salute.

"Hai," he whispered, knowing that only he could hear it, but also knowing that only he needed to.

* * *

Thanks again to everyone reading this! *hug* I really appreciate it.

A bright, cheerful, happy, and downright scary Sasuke: obi-quiet .deviantart .com /art /Scariest -Sasuke -Ever -103913561 (Without the spaces). Seriously, that's how he looks in this.


	22. Interaction

I'd like to take this opportunity to humbly apologize to both you (the reader) and my two beta readers. Between the two of them, I usually catch most of the misspelling, bad grammar and otherwise problematic situations. Even if we don't agree on every term, I really appreciate both of you. The reason I'm apologizing...I can't seem to find the corrected chapters they sent me (this is like the second time too) *smacks forehead*. I can't remember if I've actually corrected this chapter already or not (I sure hope I have), but I feel that even reading through it one more time at this point wouldn't help.

Now with that said and done, I haven't had a disclaimer in quite a while: I'm American, not Japanese. I live in the Western United States, no where near anywhere that can be published by Shounen Jump. As such, I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Ch 5 Interaction

Because of his lifestyle, Naruto wasn't always able to eat the most healthily, but he did try. The fact that he could eat just about anyone out of house and home didn't help much either. Still, he did what he could.

Of course, having to wake up early enough in the morning got to him sometimes too. He never complained. That was Ninja life for you. Still, half the mornings, he didn't even taste whatever he ate, and stumbled out of his apartment in a daze.

This morning was no different. He'd gotten up, grabbed whatever was in the fridge (leftovers and a glass of water, as he'd noticed his milk had gone bad the day before), shoved his clothes on, and walked out the door with a yawn. He'd be awake if he needed to be, or by the time he got half-way to school, whichever came first. The brown lump with the "wooden planks" running the wrong way made sure it was the first of the two.

"Aw man," he muttered, wondering if he'd been spotted yet, or if there was time for him to sneak around another way.

"Fight me!" the chakra material dropped to leave a 9-year-old with brown hair and a long, blue scarf to come after him. He hadn't even run three steps when said scarf caught his feet, causing the boy to trip and fall flat on his face.

"What are you doing, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, resigned.

The boy pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "I expect nothing less from one of the two men I respect," he said, looking up at Naruto with a grin.

"Idiot," Naruto muttered, "I didn't even do anything."

"Fight me fair and square!" Konohamaru said, finally regaining his feet.

"No."

Konohamaru ground his teeth. "What do you mean no? Do you think I'm too weak?!"

Well, that was one reason, but as far as Naruto could see, that wouldn't get this kid away from him. "I have to go to an explanatory meeting," he said finally, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking past the younger boy without even looking down at him.

"Explanatory meeting?"

"For Ninja," Naruto said, unable to keep a slight grin off of his lips. He was a ninja. He'd finally made it. When he realized Konohamaru hadn't moved, he stopped. "Go train, if you want to fight me that bad."

"Hai!" he heard the Hokage's grandson yell enthusiastically before he ran off, much to Naruto's relief.

With the exception of the withering glare random villagers shot him, he was able to walk the rest of the way to the school in peace.

xXx

Sakura couldn't help but smile a little as she tied the hitai-ate around her head where she usually tied her ribbon. She'd thought long and hard about where she should wear it, and to hold her hair back seemed perfect.

"Sakura, shouldn't you be leaving now?" she heard her mother call from the other room.

Her smile vanished as she whirled around to face the door to her room. "I was about to!" she yelled back. 'Stop treating me like a child,' she growled inside her mind. Her mother always seemed to fawn over her for every little thing, especially during the last week since she'd stopped being friends with…

'Ino,' she thought sadly. She stood like that for a few seconds before the jacket that hung on her wardrobe caught her eye. It said "fighting spirit" in large, black letters written over the flames that had been expertly sewed into the fabric.

'I won't lose,' she thought, forcing herself out of the momentary slump. 'Not to her!'

With that thought in mind, she walked confidently down the stairs and out of the front door. She only lived a few blocks from the school, and it wouldn't take her long to get there, but she really didn't want to be late today of all days.

Unfortunately, the fastest rout to school took her directly by Ino's house.

"I'm off!" she heard a girl's voice say and looked up.

'Speak of the Devil,' Sakura thought glumly, before remembering the jacket and throwing on a non-caring face just as the other girl seemed to notice her presence.

"Ohaiyo, Sakura," Ino said, her voice oozing slyly.

"Ohaiyo, Ino," the pinkette responded, hoping she didn't sound too negative. There was nothing for it. She'd just have to walk by Ino, and react. Raising her chin a little, she did just that. The purple-clad girl fell into step beside her. 'What are you doing, pig?' she asked herself, not daring to speak. She really didn't need another fight with her former best friend today of all days.

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Ino finally spoke up, breaking the tension. "I'm surprised you graduated," she said haughtily.

Taking a deep breath she hoped Ino wouldn't notice, Sakura searched her mind for something that wouldn't start an argument without having to sacrifice her pride as well. "The past doesn't matter anymore," she said finally. "Starting today, we are both ninja." There, that was vague enough that it should keep Ino thinking for a moment…then her mouth opened seemingly of its own free will. "I'm not going to lose to you anymore." She knew the challenge had been seen and taken, and almost kicked herself for not shutting up. That meant she'd really have to put up a fight, for everything…including Sasuke. Still, what was done, was done.

Sticking her chin up again, she stepped forward so as to walk ahead of the platinum blond.

Ino, in return, quickened her pace to match and then pass Sakura, who then quickened her pace to a fast walk. Ino broke into a slight jog.

By the time they reached the school, they'd been running full out, and both panted for breath. Sakura hadn't exactly won, but she found herself pleased that she'd been able to keep up.

She hadn't lost.

"Goal!" both of them yelled as they fell over each other to get into the classroom.

"I win again, Sakura," Ino said through gasping breaths.

Sakura glared over at the other girl. "What do you mean? My toe entered before yours did by a centimeter." Well, it had. She'd been watching. Anything to win Ino…

"Are you blind?!" Ino shot back.

"Are you?" While she continued to glare at Ino, she couldn't help but wonder how the other girl kept up this kind of attitude all the time. Still, it was what she had to resort to if she really wanted to be the best.

Something caught their eye at the same time, and they both turned to see Naruto tell Shikamaru to shove off, and that he wasn't stupid enough to show up if he wasn't supposed to be there. At that point, Sasuke leaned over and whispered rather loudly that the blond had graduated after all.

Sakura didn't even dare to steal a glance at Ino. Instead, she ran over to the table where Sasuke and Naruto sat. As soon as she stopped, and looked down at Naruto, she almost fainted. She'd have to talk to him. This was a prime chance to gain one-up on Ino.

"A-ano," she said, wishing she didn't sound so weak. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked up, blinking. Sasuke blushed a little even. Good sign. For a moment her breath caught in her throat as she looked at Naruto again. 'Get it over with,' she yelled inside of her mind, and set her jaw determinedly. "Can I sit by Sasuke-kun?" she asked. Sasuke seemed to blush even more. Naruto looked her over for a second nonchalantly before shrugging and moving over so she could bring sit on the bench between them.

Unfortuantely, that meant she'd have to either crawl over him, or squeeze around him. At this point, she didn't like either option. Maybe if she walked around—

"Hey, I'm going to sit next to him!" Ino growled, walking up and grabbing her arm.

"First come, first serve," Sakura retorted.

"I entered the classroom before you did!" Ino growled.

"No, I did!" another girl behind Sakura said suddenly.

"If that's the case, I did!" Ami Inoue came up behind Ino.

"I was first!" yet another girl jumped into the fray.

"No, me!"

Sakura glared at all of them, for once in her life willing to fight. If everyone else had supposedly entered first, then why didn't they have the guts to ask if they could sit by him?

"You're all annoying." Even though the words were quiet, every one of the girls stopped and looked at Naruto, who seemed to be losing patience rather quickly. "She asked. She sits."

Sasuke glanced over at his friend, 'thank you' written all over his face. Then he looked back at Sakura, who took a deep breath, squeezed by Naruto and sat down as closely to Sasuke as she could. Ino fumed in the background.

"How dare you call us 'annoying'?" she turned to look down at Naruto and smacked him over the head.

"Yeah!" Several other girls moved forward to do the same thing. Naruto readied himself, sure he could stop most of the punches.

Just then, the door opened, and Iruka stepped in, limping slightly. "Everyone, take a seat," he said. "Calm down. Hurry up."

Grumbling, the girls walked back to their desks, taking seats and glaring at Naruto who shrugged it off and leaned forward at his desk, staring intently at the chuunin.

"Staring today," Iruka grinned at his class, "you are all official Ninja. However, you are still new genins. It's only going to get harder from here." The class shifted nervously, but kept their attention on the teacher as he went on to explain how they would stay in teams of three and train in those teams until they graduated to chuunin. Then, he started reading off the list.

By the time he reached the seventh group, Naruto had begun to get a little restless.

"Uzumaki, Naruto," he heard his name, and it took all of the control he had to not jump. It seemed like an eternity before Iruka read the next name on the list. This would be the team he would compete against Sasuke with, so—

"Haruno, Sakura." He glanced at the girl beside her, noticing her sudden unease. She obviously didn't have the best attitude towards Naruto. He hadn't talked with her much since he'd come into their class a few years ago. Truthfully, he could remember two or three times. Other than that, she'd always seemed shy whenever he'd run into her. Well, apparently she'd gotten over that. Already his team was shaping out to be wonderful. Note the sarcasm.

"And Uchiha, Sasuke." The world screeched to a halt. Naruto couldn't comprehend what the man had said. He wasn't sure whether he should relax with a sigh or curse the world. He knew Sasuke, sure. He'd even admit they were friends, but that didn't mean he actually _wanted_ to be on a team with him.

"Iruka-sensei," he heard his mouth say before he could stop himself.

Iruka paused and looked up at him. "Yes, Naruto?"

Way to open your mouth, Naruto, he thought to himself before figuring he'd better just ask and be done with it. "Why am I on a team with Sasuke?"

The teacher blinked, surprised. "I thought you'd want to be on his team," he said.

Naruto didn't answer, instead shooting a glance over at Sasuke, who looked slightly hurt. He'd get over it, though, Naruto knew.

Iruka shook his head. "Because we wanted to make the teams equivalent so as to give everyone a chance. He got the highest scores in class, you got the lowest."

Naruto's jaw set as he slumped back into his previous position of leaning on his hands, glaring at Iruka who went back to reading the sheet. He didn't have to put it like that.

The chuunin finished reading the list before telling everyone to come back that afternoon just after lunch to meet their Jounin instructors, and dismissed them.

xXx

"Naruto!" The dark-eyed boy sighed. He'd made up his mind. He wanted to curse the world. Someone _really_ hated him. He turned to face Sasuke who came running up to him. "Wanna eat lunch together?"

Naruto glanced past him, to see the pink-haired girl walking towards them with a pretty forced smile. She wouldn't want to eat with him, obviously…and he almost wanted to kiss her for it. That gave him a pretty decent excuse to leave.

"I'm not hungry," he said, and turned away.

Before Sasuke could say anything else, he heard Sakura call out to the blue-eyed boy and grinned. Mission "Avoid Sasuke" accomplished.

xXx

Sasuke sat with Sakura on a stone bench a little way down from the school, chewing his lunch silently. Sure, Sakura was cute enough, but he hated how the girls seemed to obsess over him. Then, there had been how Naruto didn't seem to like her…

"Hey, Sakura," he said quietly. "I wanted to ask you about Naruto. What do you think of him?"

Sakura jumped a bit, he noticed before putting on a stubborn face (despite a slight blush he could see creeping over her cheeks). "He hates girls, and has no respect for anyone else, although he's the last in class. He's annoying." She paused and took a deep breath. "What I really want is for you to accept me, Sasuke-kun."

'If that didn't throw him off, nothing will,' she thought to herself, thanking her blushing cheeks.

"For me to accept you?" Sasuke asked, looking a little shocked, and was that annoyed?

"I'll do anything," she said, leaning in towards him.

"Er…" Sasuke leaned back away from her a bit. "I…gotta go to the bathroom." Before Sakura could say anything else, he stood up and walked calmly (if hurriedly) down the path, muttering something under his breath.

Sakura let out a sigh. She'd have to keep up the act, even when Ino wasn't around, or else it wouldn't seem real when she was. Looking down at the meal she'd been eating, and realizing she didn't feel hungry anymore, she began to put it back into the little container.

"Why are you acting?" The pinkette froze. That sounded like…she slowly turned her head up, only to see Naruto standing there, the sunlight practically shining off of his blond hair.

"N-naruto-kun," she stammered.

"You don't like Sasuke like that," the boy looked to where his dark-haired friend had vanished to. "So why?"

She gulped and looked back down, not really sure what to say. How did he know?! Was she really that obvious? Oh man, of she confessed that it was all an act, he'd hate her for treating his friend like that. If she denied it, he'd hate her for lying to him again. Either way, she was screwed.

"Why were you watching us?" she asked. Hey, changing the subject had worked for her before.

"Just passing by," he shrugged. "Are you going to answer me?"

She balked, positive her face lightened several shades. "W-well, it's because he looks so good and all. I mean, what girl wouldn't like him?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I thought you were nervous because you didn't like me, but I saw you acting the same way around him when I wasn't there. If we have to work on the same team, we can't lie to each other."

Sakura couldn't help but pause for a few moments and think. Was all of this really worth that? If she gave up and started to openly like Naruto again…she could just see the insufferable look on the other girl's face. She'd given up her best friend for this, so if it wasn't something worth fighting for, than what was the point? No, would follow through. "I have to do this," she said softly. "You don't understand. How could you?"

Naruto looked down at the pink-haired girl incredulously. He really had just been passing by when he'd seen what had happened between the two and added everything together. When he'd walked up to her, it had confirmed his reactions. She tensed, but in a different way. Her reactions didn't seem as forced around him as they did around Sasuke.

A slight frown settled over his face. Now, he could officially say he'd been stuck with the worst team in existence. A fan-girl who fawned over boys she didn't even like, and the teme.

"You're annoying," he said finally, and turned around to walk away. The world stopped turning, and only the wind blew, making even the sunlight seem dim and dismal. So that's how it felt when she'd called him annoying. Even if it was an act, he didn't know. Had it hurt him this much?

Great. Because of that stupid Ino, she'd gotten into this mess. How could she clean it up?

She sat on the stone bench for several more minutes. Nothing came to mind.

"Ano," she looked up again, this time to see Sasuke standing on the opposite side of the bench, scratching his cheek. "Ano, we need to go back to class now."

"H-hai," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "Let's walk together, Sasuke-kun!" Until she could come up with something, she decided she'd just keep up this act.

* * *

Alright, now for lovely linkages to piccies: Emo Naruto... obi-quiet. deviantart. com/ art/ Better- Emo- than- Sasuke- 105139271 (minus the spaces)

And some more lovely fanart! freethegoats. deviantart. com/ art/ Walk- two- lifetimes- 104589905 *glomp*

Arigato!

Oh, and one last note: I'm moving, so updating may start taking a little bit longer because of lack of internet connection. Gomenasai! *bows* My new roommate, however, is an awesome writer and beta-reader, so I may be able to get them up sooner and get someone to bounce ideas off of.

Anyway, thank you again!


	23. Hatake Kakashi

"Why don't you introduce yourselves?" the silver-haired jounin said to the trio that sat in front of him. Despite the pleasant day, Kakashi felt found himself only wishing to vacate the premises because of the two clashing auras. Sasuke Uchiha couldn't have been more excited, while Uzumaki Naruto gave out an air of anger and depression so thick it could almost be seen. As he looked at the group, the Ninja couldn't help but wonder what the heck he'd gotten himself into. Sure, he'd tried his hand at this before…somewhat. This time though, the Hokage had practically begged him to take the team with Uchiha Sasuke because someone had to teach him about Sharingan. From what he heard, the boy hardly ever used it, probably because he didn't realize the full implications that went along with the bloodline limit.

Still, he hadn't expected to get the demon container at the same time. Then, of course there was the third member of the team. Surprisingly enough, he found her just as intriguing as the other two. While he could read them openly, she seemed to be hiding behind a mask. Either she was particularly good at what she did, or she was fooling herself because he couldn't really pin her personality right off the bat…and he had the express impression that it had something to do with Uchiha Sasuke.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked, tipping her head to one side. "What should we say?"

Kakashi shrugged and waved his hands lazily as he spoke. "What you like, what you hate, your dreams, and hobbies. Something like that."

"Um, why don't you introduce yourself first, sensei?" Sasuke chimed up.

"Me?" Kakashi pointed to himself. 'Not bad,' he thought to himself. Getting information was a basic Ninja trait. Still, he wasn't going to let them off that easily. "I'm Hatake Kakashi," they should already know that, so he wasn't giving anything away to anyone on their level. "I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes," he continued, all the while thinking 'not to mention the Hokage would murder me for corrupting children like you to my likes'. "As for my dream…" he faded off and paused for a few moments. What would his dream be? Truthfully he didn't really know himself. Maybe to sit back and read Ichi Ichi books for the rest of his life. Yeah, that one would get him skewered too, so he skipped to the last one. "I have a few hobbies." With that, he grinned, knowing they couldn't see anything other than his eyes. Let them chew on that for a while.

He heard Sakura lean down and whisper, "So all we found out about him was his name."

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered.

"Now it's your turn." The three students turned back to their 'teacher'. "You first," he looked over at Naruto.

The dark-eyed boy shot an annoyed glare over the fists he'd rested his chin against. "Uzumaki Naruto," he said simply. "I like training. I hate annoying people," he shot a look at Sasuke, who seemed completely unaware of the menacing feeling accompanying said glare. "And I have two dreams. To be strong enough to protect anyone I want to, and to be free."

Kakashi blinked down at the boy for a few moments. Free from what? He wondered. Did the boy know about the demon? Is that what he wanted to be free of? Or was it something else. He'd have to ask the Hokage or figure it out himself if the kids actually passed. Finally, he smiled with his eyes again.

"And your hobbies?"

"I don't have any," he said simply, staring ahead of him instead of looking at anyone in the group, seemingly lost in his own little world for a few moments.

Sakura couldn't help herself. 'Naruto-kun is so cool!' she thought, doing her best to hide a blush.

"Alright," Kakashi turned to Sakura. "Next."

The pink-haired girl sat up straight, and with a smile bigger than Kakashi thought possible, she introduced herself. "I'm Hanaro Sakura! I like…" she paused and glanced in the boy's directions, her cheeks coloring slightly. "Well the person I like," she said a little more softly, and faded off. "And my hobby is…" she faded off again, still shooting glances at her teammates. Kakashi wondered which one she was aiming her affections towards. "…Well," she continued, "my dream is to…" at this she blushed even more, and turned to look at the ground in front of her.

'Great,' Kakashi sighed inwardly, 'A fan-girl'. Outwardly, he showed no emotion as he asked one more question. "And what do you hate?" he asked.

"Ino-pig," she blurted out, then seemed to realize what she'd said, and slapped her hands over her mouth, looking around as if someone was about to attack her. 'A paranoid fan-girl, even better,' the Jounin thought sarcastically.

"Girls her age must be more interested in love than ninja training," he muttered to himself and turned to the final boy. "Alright, last guy," he said.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke!" the bright-eyed boy grinned, fingering his forehead protector. "I like raman! I hate the three minutes you have to wait after I put in the hot water, and fan girls," he shuttered. Kakashi watched Sakura's eyes widen, seemingly in realization, although the boys seemed oblivious to her reaction. Apparently, Sasuke was the object of her affections. The boy in question went on, "My hobby is to eat cup ramen, and I have two dreams too!" With that, he took a deep breath, struck a pose, and pointed his thumb at his chest. "One day I'm going to be the best Hokage ever and protect everyone in the village!"

For a moment, he paused, and Kakashi said nothing, expecting him to continue and trying not to reel from shock. This Uchiha seemed scarily familiar… He quickly pushed those thoughts forcibly from his mind and raised an eyebrow when the boy didn't continue, suddenly getting an ominous feeling. He had a good idea what this 'second dream' of his was, but he figured he'd better ask anyway.

"What's your second dream?"

Sasuke deflated as his hand fell back to his side. Again, for a few seconds the only sound heard, was the wind blowing by and one or two birds singing in the afternoon sun. Then, almost as if nothing had happened, he looked up with determination sparkling in his blue lenses. "I'm going to bring back a certain person."

It was everything Kakashi could do to not fall to his knees in shock right then and there. For a moment, he hadn't seen Uchiha Sasuke. Despite his best efforts, he'd instead seen another boy, with more unruly hair and goggles. The Hokage had warned him that Sasuke was a hand-full, but not like this. Sure, he knew the boy played pranks (like letting erasers fall on your new teacher's head), and tended to be more laid back than his former clan, but still this resemblance had grown from "resemblance" to far surpass "uncanny".

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, breaking into his thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

That was all Kakashi needed to regain his composure again. "I was just thinking," he said, "that mostly, you have unique personalities. I like that." Then without missing a beat, he folded his arms, continuing. "Tomorrow, we're going to start a mission."

Sasuke put his hand up in a salute. "And what kind of mission is that, sir?!" he asked as loudly as he could.

"Something we four can do.

"What, what, what, what, what?" The brightly colored genin leaned forward expectantly. The other two, while pretending not to, also leaned in.

"Survival training."

All of the graduates blinked at him. "Survival Training?" Sasuke asked.

"Why are we training on a mission?" Sakura asked, looking more than a little disappointed. "Didn't we have plenty of training at the academy?"

Kakashi couldn't help but grin a little under his mask. "This is no ordinary training," his words rang ominously around them.

Sasuke raised his hand in a motion that, again, seemed all too familiar. "Then what kind of training is it?" The Jounin forced a laugh.

"What's so funny, sensei?" Sakura asked, annoyance showing plainly on her face.

"Well," Kakashi swung his hand around half-hazardly. "If I say this, I'm sure you three will be surprised."

"Huh?" Sasuke asked, tipping his head to the side.

Kakashi's fake smile vanished as he leaned his head into his hand. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will actually become gennins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy.

"In other words, this training will consist of a very hard test with more than a 66% dropout rate." If Kakashi hadn't still been trying to recover from his own shock, he would have treasured the priceless expressions on each of their faces, even if Naruto's was hidden by his now clenched hands.

The jounin opened his arms and smiled yet again, inviting the flies into his web. "See, you are surprised," he said, forcing a laugh again.

"No way!" Sasuke leaned forward.

"I went through a lot of trouble to graduate," Naruto spoke up, his voice dangerously soft.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded emphatically. "If that's how it is, what's the final exam for?"

"Oh that?" Kakashi couldn't help it. His voice gained a sly tone as he continued to explain. "That just picks out those who are qualified to become gennin.

Sasuke looked flabbergasted. "WHAT?"

A hawk flew by overhead, completely oblivious to the depression leaking off the three children simultaneously as Kakashi resumed his previous care-free voice. "Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail at tomorrow's training grounds. Bring your ninja equipment, and meet me here at 5 A. M.!

All three 'pre'-graduates looked down, their own thought each running through their heads. 'I'm not going to let something like this get me down!' Sasuke silently told himself. 'Even if I have to pull it all on my own, I'm not going to let us lose!' He glanced over at Naruto, knowing just how hard hit had been for his friend to pass. 'I definitely won't let us lose!'

Sakura bit her lip as she studied the rooftop tiles below her feet. 'This is my best chance!' she grit her teeth, trying not to panic. 'Not only am I on Naruto's team, but I can get back at Ino-pig! Something this good won't happen again!'

Meanwhile, Naruto's hands hadn't left their casual place in front of his mouth. 'Maybe if I fail, I can just try again next year without these two on my team. I'll show everyone…but then, I don't know if the academy will take me back.' He almost cursed out loud. 'I'm going to have to pass this stupid test with these idiots.'

"Well then," the platinum-haired Jounin turned his back on the group. "Meeting adjourned. Oh yeah," he glanced back over his shoulder. "Don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up."

xXx

Because his 'team' would already be at the monument, today Kakashi had visited the graveyard of those who died in battle instead, sitting and staring at the pages in his book. Truthfully, he hadn't read much. His mind kept wandering back to Uchiha Sasuke.

He wasn't sure he could do this. He didn't really want to either. Just seeing the three of them brought back too many painful memories. Naruto acted just like he used to, while Sasuke had to be the reincarnation of Obito. Sakura didn't seem to be much like Rin, as his teammate had been rather quiet and uncertain and content to be so as long as she got the job done. Then again, he'd looked into his new "student's" records, and it seemed that only recently had she not fit that description.

He cursed under his breath and slammed the book shut, tipping his head back to rest against the cold stone of the wall that surrounded the graveyard. Did the Hokage do this on purpose? Did someone want to do this to get back at him for quitting the ANBU? Maybe the village elders, as he had confidence that the Hokage wouldn't do something like that for such a petty reason.

His thoughts turned to the eye now hidden beneath his hitai-ate, which turned him to Obito and thus on to Sasuke yet again. Why did his mind insist on running in circles when he normally didn't have any such problems? Why would the Hokage do something like this? Probably to force him into facing his past. How could he, though? How…

A thought suddenly occurred to him. Maybe he couldn't change his past, but he could train Sasuke to be the best. Helping to save this Uchiha's life wouldn't make up for his poor choices in the past, but it might be a start.

"Maybe I can do this after all," he muttered to himself, not sure whether he truly believed that or not.

xXx

"You're late!" Sakura and Sasuke stood up and shouted at the Jounin instructor as he came walking down the path a good 5 and ½ hours after the rest of the team had assembled.

Kakshi had to bite his tongue from saying something when he saw Sasuke. Truthfully, it was the stance that really got to him. Kakashi couldn't help but stop and stare at the dark-haired Uchiha. If he didn't know any better, he would swear his old teammate really had come back to life to stand before him. Yeah, the boy had a slightly different hair cut, and marginally different features, but for the most part, he could honestly be Obitio's twin.

"It's your fault for the stupid eraser prank," Naruto muttered. Kakashi, who had yet to open his mouth to say anything, turned his attention to the blond child. Here, he'd been practically assigned three of the strangest genin misfits ever, had told them that he hated them, had scared them soulless, and shown up almost six hours late. After all of that, the 'dead last' of the entire class had been the one to remember the day before, assess the situation, come to a conclusion and even give his instructor an excuse.

He decided he liked Naruto. If the boy truly was anything like Kakashi had been, he'd probably want to be left alone to his own devices. Truthfully, the jounin didn't have any problem with that. He never had been good with kids.

"Actually," he said, "a black cat crossed my path and I had to…" he faded off. For graduates, they almost gave off some decent killer intent…almost. Noting the look on their face, he turned his eyes down and cleared his throat. "Let's move on."

He walked across the green grass to one of three old stumps that had been set up there. From his backpack, he took out a rather large clock with two bells on either side, and wound it. "Alarm set for 12 PM." He set his pack on the ground and reached into one of his pockets, pulling out two little bells and showing them to the three tired-looking pre-teens. "Today's topic is to get these bells from me."

The kids didn't move, only blinking at him.

"Whoever doesn't will get no lunch," he said. Naruto's eyes widened and he paled slightly. Sakura looked more than a little sick, while Sasuke actually shrieked out loud. Kakashi continued, keeping his face as neutral as he could manage. "On top of that, I will tie you to one of those three stumps over there, and eat lunch in front of you.

"So that's why he said…" Naruto muttered, fading off.

"…don't eat breakfast," Sakura finished. Then she noticed something and blinked. "But wait, why are there only two bells?"

Kakashi grinned. "Since there's only two, at least one will be tied to the log. That person will also fail as he failed to complete his mission, so they will go back to the academy." He swung the bells tauntingly, listening to them jingle. "It might just be one, or all three. You can use your shuriken, techniques, whatever. The only thing is, you won't be able to get one of these unless you have the intent to kill me."

Sakura's face melted into horror and anger. "But that's too dangerous, sensei!" she insisted.

Kakashi actually had to bite his lip to not laugh out loud. Oh how these brats overestimated themselves.

"Yeah," Sasuke grinned. "You couldn't even dodge a chalk eraser."

"In society," the man interjected, "those without many abilities tend to complain more." Although, he thought to himself, maybe that doesn't really apply here. Sasuke turned his glare on the jounin, his face serious as he fell silent.

"We'll begin after I say 'start'," Kakashi said. Well, at least one of them now had intent to kill.

To the jounin's surprise, Naruto jumped out, his kunai ready. 'What's gotten into him?' he asked himself, grabbing the boy's hand and halting his tracks before twisting the blonde's hand around and in back of his own head. Maybe Kakashi had misjudged him? No, he doubted that was it. Could he be upset as to what the sliver-haired man had said about Sasuke? For some reason, he didn't think that was the case either.

The kids stared in shock at their teammate's new position. Naruto had frozen, knowing at this point that if Kakashi had wanted to kill him, he would have easily been able to do so. Kakashi smiled over at them, knowing full well they wouldn't have been able to follow his movements.

"Don't get too hasty," he said slowly. "I didn't say 'start' yet."

Sakura backed away, while Sasuke looked like he was about ready to charge as well, but had paused to look the situation over. Kakashi sighed slightly in relief. At least he had more sense than Obito if that were the case. As soon as the older Shinobi let Naruto go, the other boy fell back too. "Looks like you have the intent to kill me now," Kakashi said, letting the grin fall into something a little more real, thankful that they couldn't see his face yet again. "Maybe I can start liking you three.

"We're going to start," he warned them, and saw them all crouch down in preparation. "Ready…Start!"

That quickly, Kakashi stood alone in the training field with a hand on the back of his head. 'A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide,' he thought to himself. "Good," he said aloud, "everyone's hidden nicely."

That's when a presence suddenly appeared behind him…a familiar one, and to make matters worse, the presence wasn't even trying to conceal himself. Kakashi could only stare in complete confusion. The kid had some basic common sense from what he'd been able to tell from the records on him, so why had he come right out in front of –

"Let's fight fair and square," he said as he took out a kunai.

The jounin couldn't figure out if the kid had serious mental problems (likely) or he was just plain stupid (not quite so likely, but still a possibility).

Even Sasuke, from his hidden perch, found himself staring with a slack jaw at his friend. Take on a jounin? The eraser had obviously been intentional. Even he'd been able to see that. Did Naruto honestly think he could take on someone of that high of a caliber?

At the same time, though, he felt a pang of jealousy that Naruto had the guts to go up against Hatake-sensei and he hadn't even thought of it. Maybe he'd go down and help Naruto out…

"Aren't you a little weird compared to the rest?" Kakashi asked, hoping to snap some sense into the boy.

"Says the guy with the weird hair," Naruto shot back. 'At least he can speak up in defense of himself,' Kakashi thought. Of course, given his background, he'd probably had to learn something like that just to be able to walk down the street.

Then he saw it, the slight hesitation before the boy rushed at him spoke volumes. 'He's trying to make himself look like an idiot,' he realized. 'Why? To make me underestimate him? Not a bad tactic, but what does he have in mind?' He quickly searched around him, throwing his senses out, but finding nothing. No traps, he wasn't a clone, and no chakra output to say he had anything up his sleeve.

Deciding he'd play along, Kakashi shrugged and put his hand hi the pouch at his waist. He'd have to be blind and an idiot to keep rushing him. If he didn't stop, he obviously had a death wish. Kakashi had purposely made it look like he was reaching for a kunai. Anyone who kept rushing at him would get themselves stabbed and killed if they weren't careful, and without the Jounin having to do anything. He saw the boy narrow his eyes, and stop in his tracks, still crouched and prepared to fight.

"Ninja tactic know-how number one: taijutsu. I'll teach you that first," he said aloud. That should throw the kid off. Surely enough, he saw confusion in his 'new pupil's' eyes. Taijutsu meant hand to hand, so why had he reached in his pocket? Kakashi grinned beneath his mask and pulled out a little, orange book. Of course, this only caused the blonde's confusion to deepen, although to his credit, he barely showed it.

Kakashi stood there for several seconds before looking up at the boy. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Come and get me." When Naruto didn't respond or move a muscle (instead choosing to stare at the book apprehensively), Kakashi simply shrugged and grinned. "Don't mind about this. I just want to know how the story will develop." He didn't look up as he continued to talk, "Don't worry, it's the same whether I read it or not."

Naruto's expression hardened and he glanced over to the bushes. "Sasuke, if you even think of coming out to help me, I'll never forgive you."

'Great,' the Jounin almost smacked his forehead. 'They'd had a chance up until Naruto said that.' He continued to read as the 12-year-old finally continued his rush. He had a half-hazard way of fighting that, while not very efficient, if developed further, could leave several people distracted and guessing. However, at Naruto's current level, Kakashi found himself rather disappointed as he easily blocked or dodged every single kick and punch without having to break his concentration on the book. From what he'd seen, he'd definitely hoped for a little more than that.

Finally, he went in for a punch similar to one Kakashi had easily dodged before, and the Jounin had had enough. "Idiot," he said as he moved out of the way of the punch quickly enough that the boy wouldn't be able to follow, ending up in back of the boy. "Never let an enemy get behind you." With that, he reached forward and channeled all of the chakra he could into the boy's backside, just as he turned around to kick at him. He wasn't fast enough.

"1000 years of pain!" Kakashi yelled out, channeling a good deal of the chakra he could into the tiger seal his hands had made, giving it just the slightest touch of fire and sending Naruto flying into the nearby river. 'Well, that should cool him off,' Kakashi thought with a sigh.

He remembered the book in his hands, and opened it back up. He'd just been getting to a good part too.

Five seconds later, two ninja stars came out of the water and circled around to hit him. 'Good trajectory,' he thought. 'Not dead on, but close. Just a little more finesse there, and he'd end up pretty good with weapons. Still…' Again, without even taking his eyes off of the book, he stuck his fingers up, catching both weapons by the hole drilled into their center.

Naruto surfaced soon after, glaring at Kakashi. "What's the matter?" the leaf nin asked. "Remember, you won't be able to eat if you don't get a bell." Naruto, again, didn't speak. "You say you want to gain enough strength to protect everyone, but your actions say otherwise."

"Use your Kage Bushin, Idiot!" A voice from the trees yelled out. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he looked over in the direction of the voice. Sasuke hardly ever called him an idiot. Dead last? Sure, but not 'idiot'.

Kakshi looked down at Naruto, surprised. "Kage bushin?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm not the idiot," the dark-eyed boy muttered, but placed his hands in a seal. "Kage bushin no jutsu," he said, and six clones appeared around him and splashed out of the water, rushing at the teacher and leaving Naruto to climb out and recover.

Sakura, who had been grumbling in her mind about the total lack of fairness in this match, couldn't help but grin as she watched the clones appear. "That's amazing!" she whispered.

The clones, however, were quickly dispatched by the older shinobi. "Not a bad technique," Kakashi said, "but is that the best you can use it?" The last clone disappeared in a puff of smoke as he spoke, leaving…nothing there. No clone, no teacher…nothing.

In surprise, Naruto whirled around, but nothing pounced out at him, no one tried to get behind him again (thankfully, that had HURT) and nothing stood out.

Nothing except a glint on the ground.

Kakashi watched from behind the leaves of the tree he'd hidden in waiting for Naruto to…wait. The Jounin found himself confused again when the blond turned and started walking warily away. He was sure he'd seen the bell, so why?

"Naruto!" a voice called out. "Hurry up and hide!" Scowling, the visible boy glared at the unseen Sasuke, and everything clicked in Kakashi's head.

He could only shake his head as he reached into his pouch again. If Naruto wouldn't voluntarily head into his trap, he could just as easily force him there. Seconds later, he launched the kunai with the written tag on it into the air then hit it so that it came at a slightly different angle to land in front of Naruto.

The 12-year-old's eyes grew wider than Kakashi had ever seen them when he realized what was attached to said kunai, and jumped back towards the tree, shielding himself out of reflect. As soon as his feet touched the ground, they were jerked from underneath him, and he found himself bouncing in the air by a rope.

"What the…" Naruto started, but faded off when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Naruto looked down to see Kakashi pick up the bell he'd 'missed' before.

For a few moments, the two shinobi didn't say anything, instead choosing to glare at each other. Finally Kakashi turned around. "I'll be back for you later," was all he said as he began to walk away.

As he did, several kunai and at least two throwing stars came hurtling down towards him, piercing his skull, throat, chest, belly and legs simultaneously. Naruto's eye went wide as he watched the jounin fall from the obviously fatal wounds.

"I think you went too far, Sasuke," he muttered.

* * *

Well, I warned you that it might be a while. Fortunately, I almost have the next chapter done, so it shouldn't be too long before I get it to you! Thanks for reading again, and sorry for the wait!


	24. Failure

Sasuke had seen the opening, and immediately let his weapons fly. His family would have been proud to see the perfect arcing angles that hit directly on the mark…but Sasuke had to admit, he hadn't truly expected them to hit.

For a moment, he watched in horror as the Jounin fell to the side, carried by the momentum of the kunai and shuriken that hit him. Then, the body vanished, only to be replaced by a log. Sasuke wasn't sure if he should breathe a sigh of relief or curse out loud. He'd gone with that 'intent to kill' (that hadn't been too hard, as the older man had insulted his best friend), but hadn't truly been prepared for the consequences.

Even as he raced away, vowing to come back for his friend when he could, his brother came unwittingly to mind, a disapproving look on his face. 'You should have been better prepared for that.'

"I know," he hissed. "He let his guard down on purpose. I can't believe I fell for his trap!"

As he raced along, he couldn't help but feel like pray; cornered. He had to find a way out of this, and get those bells so he and Naruto could pass this stupid test.

'Think,' he said to himself. 'What would Itachi do? How would he trap Hatake-san?'

He didn't see the man in question hiding behind some bushes, his eye squarely on Sasuke as he reached into his pouch.

xXx

Sakura had felt nothing short of sick when she'd seen the Jounin bombarded with shuriken. The only thought she'd been able to muster was how they'd totally failed by killing their instructor.

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw him change into the log. Still, that meant they'd only have to work that much harder to get those bells.

After a few moments, she realized that Naruto was still hanging upside down by the tree. She couldn't sense Kakashi-san around either. Despite this, Naruto hadn't made a move to free himself, and looked to be in rather deep thought.

Shaking her head, she stole a glance around before darting out to help Naruto.

"Psst," she whispered as she warily approached the tree, on alert for other traps and the silver-haired man.

Naruto looked down, surprised, before his face hardened. "What do you want?"

Sakura felt a little sting at that. Had she really offended him that badly? "I'm here to help get you down."

His look darkened even more. "So, you think I'm helpless?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

She blinked, slightly taken aback. "No, of course n—"

"Then get out of here."

She blinked, not sure whether to feel more confused or more hurt. "Go to your stupid idol and get in his way." Hurt. Definitely hurt. "Get out of mine."

For a moment, she just stood there in blatant denial. This wasn't her Naruto! It couldn't be…

But the look on his face said otherwise. "N-Naruto…" she managed to get out before a bush rustling near by snapped her out of it. With one last look up, she turned and ran into the woods after Sasuke.

Her movements had slowed ever so slightly, and she seemed to be making a little more noise than she normally would, but at the moment, couldn't bring herself to care.

This all changed when she suddenly sensed Kakashi-sensei up ahead. With eyes wide in panic, she dropped to the ground, peaking over the edge of the small cliff to where her teacher stood with his back to her.

"I'm safe," she breathed. "He didn't notice me."

"Sakura," a voice from behind caused her to freeze. She turned around just in time to see her teacher make a hand sign, and the leaves picked up in a sudden wind, dancing wildly around her. She felt funny…kind of dazed and dizzy, like she'd only just woken up and hadn't quite come out of her dream state yet.

After a few moments, the leaves blew away, leaving her alone in the clearing near where she'd seen her teacher only moments before. Instantly, she flew on guard.

"Huh?" she asked herself. "What was that? Where did sensei go? What's going on?!"

"Sakura," she heard a laden groan from behind a tree, and her eyes flew open wide. Was that…? Almost unwilling to believe, and unable to really speak, she turned around. Naruto practically fell into view looking much like a pin-cushion with all of the kunai that had been buried up to the hilt in his back. He'd collapsed, probably from the loss of blood.

The world faded to black around her, and all she could see was the true object of her affection dying right in front of her…and there was nothing she could do.

Panic began to swell in her chest, and forced its way out of her mouth in the form of a terrified scream, and then her consciousness faded as she fell in a dead faint.

Meanwhile, Kakashi sat on a tree branch overlooking his only female student. "Maybe I overdid it," he mused for a moment and turned a page of his book. "But she should have been able to tell that wasn't real."

xXx

Sasuke heard the scream from his teammate, and turned around to face the direction it had come from. Then he heard a voice from a presence that appeared as suddenly behind him as Itachi had during training years ago.

"Ninja technique number two: Genjutsu," he sighed and stood up. "Sakura fell for it all too easily."

"You got Sakura-chan," Sasuke accused, making it more of a statement than a question. "But you won't get me!"

Kakashi almost cringed. That was exactly what Obito would have said in the same situation. As a matter of fact, he had said that very thing more than once.

"Why don't you say that after you get a bell?" he managed to get out, sounding much more calm than he really felt.

"I hope this works," Sasuke said to himself, very much wanting to wipe the stupid mask off of the man's face. In a flash, he reached into his pouch and grabbed several kunai, throwing them and more shuriken at the older man.

"Normal attacks won't work!" Kakashi said, feeling the familiar frustration of trying to get basic realizations like this through Obito's thick skull. That's when he saw Sasuke throw a rogue kunai above the older man's head and to the left, severing a rope that had been stretched there.

If Sasuke had been close enough to see the complete and utter surprise on Kakashi's face, he would have crowed in triumph.

'A trap?' Kakashi thought as several more weapons flew in his direction. He planted his feet against the base of a tree and dodged just as the knives and stars sunk deep into the wood where he'd been only moments before.

Just as he dodged, Sasuke came down from the side, kicking high and hard. For a moment, Kakashi didn't see Sasuke or Obito in the Uchiha. Instead, he saw a tired, but young face looking over at him through a mask of emotionlessness. In place of the normally happy, boisterous personality, he saw Itachi.

So that's how he'd been able to do this. He'd put himself in his brother's place and used what he could remember to come up with a fairly impressive trap. It wasn't a bad idea. On the contrary, Kakashi knew several people who would do the exact same thing. Some ninja developed their ability to change between states of mind to an extreme of duel personalities as a mental coping mechanism so they could deal with their lives as humans and their jobs as assassins and warriors.

He countered the boy's kick fairly easily, but Sasuke was already moving, twisting his body over and throwing a hard punch at his face. Again, Kakashi blocked it, and again Sasuke used the stopped momentum to twist his body upside down, bringing yet another hard kick towards the Jounin's head.

Now with both of his hands occupied, this freed Sasuke up to reach out for—

Kakashi saw it just in time, and pushed himself back and away from the boy he'd engaged, hearing the bells ring as they slipped out of the Uchiha's outstretched fingers.

Sasuke steadied himself, glaring at Kakashi for a few moments. Then, his emotionless mask melted away in an instant and he pointed at Kakashi, looking more like Obito than ever. "No fair! I had those!"

Kakashi barely restrained himself from shaking his head. "There is no 'fair' in the world of the Ninja," he said slowly. "You use what you have to and think outside the box. If you would have done that, you might just have had these," he patted the bells at his side, causing them to ring out.

"I'll show you," he growled out as his hands started to fly through signs. Kakashi recognized it immediately as an elemental justu and raised an eyebrow. The Uchihas had been known for their fire jutsu, but he had yet to use a tiger—

"Wind element: Whirling Tornado Technique!"

'That isn't something a genin can do?!' Kakashi practically yelled to himself. Then his confusion deepened. Wind? Since when –he did not have time for speculation right now.

Sasuke concentrated on controlling the chakra, not particularly wanting to die from his own technique. Still, for some reason, he'd never really had a problem trying to gain and maintain control over his chakra, almost like he was used to having so much more. That's what one of his teachers had said in any case.

He let his hand drop to his side, and looked at the almost perfectly round bowl his tornado had created, and noticed quite a lack of Kakashi Hatake.

"He escaped?" Sasuke asked himself, his eyes wide in surprise. How could anyone escape that?! It had been one of his better ones too. Immediately, Sasuke looked around, expecting to be jumped at any moment. "Were is he?" he asked.

He threw his senses around him, and even above him, but found nothing. Surely his teacher wouldn't—

"Beneath you!" he heard the jounin's muffled voice just as something grabbed his leg.

"Earth Jutsu: Suicidal Beheading Technique!"

Sasuke couldn't help but yell out in frustration and surprise as he found himself very suddenly buried in the ground up to his chin. How he'd gotten there was anyone's guess. He struggled for several moments until he noticed the gray-haired shinobi come and squat before him.

"Third ninja-tactics know how: Ninjutsu."

"I know that!" Sasuke yelled.

"How is it?" Kakashi continued as if he hadn't heard. "Can't move right?"

Sasuke let out a growl of frustration. "Of course I can't!"

"Well, even if you do have a big mouth," Kakashi commented casually, "your talents are exceptional." Leisurly he stood and took out his little, orange book again. He began to read again, and turned around, walking deliberately away. "Of course, they say that stakes that stick out of the ground are only driven back in again."

xXx

Sakura came to vaguely, watching the world slowly come into focus. "What happened?" she asked, using an arm to push herself into a sitting position. Then it all came back; Naruto chasing her off, insulting her and then asking for help as he bled to death…

"Don't leave me!" she yelled suddenly, standing up and searching the area for a body, or a blood trail, or anything. "Don't leave me alone, Naruto-kun! Where are you?"

She started running through the trees again, searching desperately for her nearly dead teammate. What would happen when she found him? Well, she didn't know, but they'd think of something. Of course, that would probably be a lot easier if they weren't being chased around and hunted down by some sadististic Jounin who—

Suddenly she spotted something on the ground and looked down. It took every ounce of will and resistance in her to not faint again. She'd come across something rather gruesome…Sasuke's head.

"Sakura-chan! Good! Get me—"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she couldn't help it any longer and let out a shriek. "Now it's a talking head!!" And with that, she fell to the ground for the second time that day.

Sasuke, meanwhile, looked at her confused until she flopped onto the grass. "Sakura-chan?" he asked, his voice worried. Then it sounded even more desperate. "Sakura-chan!" She'd just fallen! Was she dead? Had their teacher done something to her?

He didn't know, so he continued to squirm. Surely if he struggled hard enough… He felt the rocks dig into his arms and back, thankfully protected by his clothing, although he'd probably get a scolding from the lady he took his clothes to for cleaning.

It took him more minutes than he'd care to admit to finally get out of it, but get out he did, pulling himself onto the ground and crawling over to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan…" he paused, almost afraid to touch her. What if she had died? Hesitantly he called out again, "Sakura-chan?" To his great relief, she stirred, and slowly opened her eyes.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" she asked, almost not able to believe he was even there. When he didn't disappear, she shot up and hugged him, crying out in relief. "I thought you were dead!" Only a moment later, she let go with a gasp. "Naruto-kun!" she whispered, her face going pale enough for Sasuke to think she might pass out again. She turned to look at Sasuke, her eyes fearful. "Naruto-kun's hurt!"

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "What?!" he asked and stood up, throwing his hand down in an offer to help her up distractedly. "Come on!"

She blinked at his hand for a moment before looking up. "But, aren't we supposed to work against each other?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's voice shot back, impatiently.

"The bells," she said. "There are only two. There are three of us on the team. This is supposed to turn us against each other."

Sasuke blinked down at her for a moment, as if trying to work something out in his head. "Then," he said slowly, "what's the point of being a team?"

Sakura shrugged. "I've been trying to figure that out."

"Hmm," Sasuke murmured something under his breath before shaking his head. Then, he seemed to remember something and shook his head. "That was a Genjutsu, what you saw" he said. "Kakashi told me when I saw him. It wasn't real."

For the first time since she'd woken up, Sakura felt like she could breathe again. "Really? You promise?" she asked skeptically, but with all too much hope.

Sasuke regarded her for a moment. "You've never seen someone die, have you?" he asked with a tone Sakura couldn't read.

"No," she said slowly, "have you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he extended his hand just a little further. "Come on, let's go figure this out."

Sakura looked at the hand again. He hadn't answered any of her questions, even if he had acknowledged them, but she knew she couldn't get those bells without some help...

"Alright," she said, reached out and grabbed his hand. Just as she regained her feet, a very loud bell sounded. Both children knew what that meant. Sasuke swore under his breath.

"No," Sakura said softly. Their time had run out.

xXx

Truthfully, when Naruto landed, he wasn't as surprised as he thought he should be when his feet got yanked out from underneath him and he ended up upside down again. He cursed half-heartedly under his breath.

His growling stomach did little to help his mood. Truthfully, he didn't know what to do if he didn't remain hanging upside down. At least here, he'd have something of an excuse. Not a good one, but better than wandering aimlessly. Still, he'd been hanging upside down for far too long. When his head started to really throb, and his vision began to darken around the edges, he figured enough was enough, and had gone up to cut the rope. Even slightly dazed as he was, he'd still been able to land on his feet, only to end up right where he'd left off, dangling in the wind and glaring out at the training grounds. At least he'd ticked off his supposed teacher enough to actually get sent back to the academy. If he'd known all of this would happen, he wouldn't have passed in the first place. He really didn't want to be stuck on a team with both Sasuke and Sakura for who knew how long. It wasn't like he didn't get enough of Sasuke already.

Just then, his stomach let out a particularly loud rumble and he sighed. That's when something caught his eye. From where he hung, he could see the entire area, and he wasn't that far away from where they'd all met that morning, by the three stumps. Behind the stumps stood a large, stone monument, and on top of it sat two boxed lunches. For a moment Naruto tried to make himself forget it, but the pain from his belly hurt almost worse than his still throbbing head. Thanks probably to the stupid fox, he had more metabolism than any normal human or ninja he'd met. Honestly, he could out eat everyone…probably at once. He hated to go hungry, and had come to the conclusion that it was always so much worse than what everyone else felt.

Well, that settled that. He'd definitely go for the lunch box, and then leave before Kakashi could see him. He needed it more after all. Who else had to support both himself and a giant, evil fox?

It didn't take him long to cut the second rope, and jump off of the tree to avoid any more traps. Once he was sure he could take a step without ending up upside down (or worse) again, he took off towards the rock, employing every ninja trick he knew to remain unseen.

Getting there wasn't the problem. Taking the box wasn't the problem. Not sensing the teacher who stood directly behind you as you opened the lunch box…well, that became a very large problem.

"So you're not only trying to not pass, but you cheat as well?" Naruto flinched. This would not end well. It took him a moment, but he put on his most uncaring face and turned to shrug at the guy over his shoulder. "Cheating to win because you can't otherwise, I've heard of. Cheating to win just because you can, I've heard of. I've even heard of cheating to lose in rare cases, although each time there was a strong motivation and good reason. However, cheating to lose with no motivation? That's a new one."

Kakashi fixed Naruto with his best glare, and was actually slightly rewarded when the blond shrunk back a little.

"So," the jounin continued in a falsely pleasant voice, "I hope for your sake that you have a good reason as to why you're trying to lose."

Naruto thought hard, running through every excuse he could think of in his mind. He hadn't expected the older nin would catch on so quickly…and so well. He figured he should keep his mouth shut until he came up with a decent answer.

"Well?" Kakashi leaned in, looking none-too playful. Naruto could tell, he wasn't joking around this time. He was serious, and he wanted an answer.

"I don't think I'm ready," he said finally. "To be a ninja, yet."

"Oh really?" Kakashi stood up, and Naruto found to his dismay that he no longer held the lunch box. "So, you actually pass your test this year after two failures, and decide to waste it?" Kakashi sat back, although the boy's face didn't move a muscle he figured he'd touched on something just by the feeling the younger male suddenly gave off. "I can't decide whether you're more of an idiot or a coward." That got a reaction.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Hey, I decided I can't do this, okay! Just send me back to the academy."

"You decided this after the 'mission' started. In other words, you purposely chased off one of your team members and then left both of them to fend for themselves after you were assigned, not to mention putting the entire mission in danger." Kakashi felt his own eyes narrow. "For a ninja, that is unforgivable. When this is over, I'll make sure you not only don't become a ninja, but that you can't get back into the academy…ever again."

"What!?" Naruto said in the loudest voice Kakashi had heard from the boy yet. "Why not?!"

Just then, the alarm went off. In seconds, the Jounin had already tied Naruto to the middle of the three stumps, seriously reconsidering his earlier opinion of the boy. Kakashi was sure he'd never acted like _that_.

"Because," he said as he finished tying the knots, "it doesn't matter if the mission isn't obtainable, or if you don't like your teammates, or if you know you'll die if you do succeed. Once you accept a job, you carry it through. Konoha doesn't need ninjas who will accept a mission and then run away to save their own skin without even trying."

Just then, a rather depressed (although strangely relieved) Sasuke and Sakura appeared at the edge of the clearing.

"Good news," Kakashi turned around and handed the two a lunch box. "Naruto cheated, so you both get to eat although you didn't get the bell."

"Ch-cheated?" Both of the newcomers asked in surprise.

"How?" Sakrua asked, as Sasuke seemed to have trouble finding his voice.

Kakashi shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Just know because he did, both of you get lunch."

Reluctantly the dark-haired boy and his pink-haired companion took the boxes and sat down next to the stump where Naruto had been tied, looking like he didn't care an ounce.

"I've also made up my mind," Kakashi said once everyone had been situated. "You three shouldn't go back to the academy." Sakura and Sasuke's eyes lit up while Naruto looked on suspiciously. "You should stop being ninja altogether."

Now the first two looked at him in horror while the third member simply glared.

"What?" Sakura screeched, "Why?!"

Kakshi looked up at the girl and narrowed his eyes. "Do you think that being a ninja is so easy? Why do you think we're training by breaking up into groups?"

The pinkette flushed and looked over at Sasuke. "We were wondering that…" she said slowly.

"Good," Kakashi said, although he didn't sound pleased in the slightest. "That means you might actually begin to understand the answer to this test."

"We're all in a group," Sasuke said quietly, as if the answer had suddenly smacked him up the side of the head.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "The answer to this test is Teamwork."

Sakura looked more confused than ever. "So, we were supposed to work together? But with only two bells, even if all three worked together, someone would have to bite the bullet. The result would be a group conflict."

"Of course," the Jounin growled. "The test is supposed to try to pit you against each other. In this situation, we pick genin who can prioritize teamwork over themselves. Naruto," he turned his glare fiercely back on the blond. "You sewed discord when you chased your teammate away and didn't care about the rest of your comrades or how they would feel if they didn't succeed. If you don't work as one with others, you will never succeed as Ninja.

"Sakura," he turned to the girl who shrank back looking more than a little embarrassed. "You let your feelings for your comrades stop you from both helping them and accomplishing the mission.

"Sasuke, you cared about your companions, but didn't think either one could really help you, so you tried to accomplish the mission yourself." The Jounin sighed internally. Why did these kids have to be so thick? "If you all would have worked together, you could have gotten the bells."

His gaze now swept over all three as they sat there in the calm afternoon day. "It's true that Ninjas need well developed individual abilities, but it's the teamwork that is much more important. An individual action that disrupts teamwork will result in danger or even death for one if not all three teammates. For example…" He paused and reached into his pack, then in an instant had a surprised and angry Sasuke pinned to the ground.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled as he put a kunai to Sasuke's throat. "Kill Naruto or I'll kill Sasuke!"

Naruto paled and glanced over at the girl whose mouth had dropped open in utter horror as she looked between the three boys. When she didn't answer, Kakashi sat back, his voice returning to its normal, lazy tone. "That's what will happen."

"Sensei," Sakrua breathed. "You scared me."

Kakashi began to twirl the knife on his finger casually. "After someone is taken hostage, you will be faced with a difficult decision and someone will die." Without missing a beat, he caught the kunai and it disappeared inside his pouch as he rose, letting Sasuke up. "In every mission," he continued, "you put your life on the line."

Sasuke stood up, looking a little worse for wear and angry.

"Look at this," Kakashi called over to them from where he stood in front of the large stone. "The numerous names carved into this stone are the names of those praised as heroes in this village."

"I'll get my name carved into that stone," Sasuke said rising, his eyes hard and determined. "I'll become a hero everyone can look up to!"

"Oh?" All three children could feel Kakashi looking at them, although he had yet to turn away from the stone and face them. "But these aren't ordinary heroes."

Sasuke paused and blinked. "What kind of heroes are they?" he asked.

"They're those who have been K.I.A." Sasuke's face immediately went emotionless as he digested this.

"K.I.A.?" Naruto questioned.

"He means 'killed in action'," Sakura whispered to him. His eyes grew wide and he glanced over at Sasuke, who stood with his fists balled at his side, looking down beside his own feet.

Kakashi continued. "This is a cenotaph. My friends' names have been carved in here as well," his voice took on a softer tone that the children hadn't heard before. "If you want to become a ninja, but can't accept your team members, then eventually you or a fellow ninja will die."

His voice suddenly hardened as he turned quickly and narrowed his eyes again. "I will give you one more chance. However, the battle for the bell will be much harsher after lunch. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge. And don't let Naruto eat."

The blond's eyes hardened as he glared at the jounin. "This is your punishment for cheating. Maybe you should reconsider. I won't give you another chance until you explain to your team exactly how you cheated."

He turned his head to look at the other two. "If anyone feeds him, they will fail immediately." Sakura gulped a little while Sasuke didn't look up and Naruto continued his glare. "I'm the rule here, got it?" Kakashi asked, his voice going dangerously quiet.

With that, he handed the two boxes to Sasuke and Sakura before disappearing and leaving the three academy graduates on their own.


	25. Kakashi's Final Decision

Alright, so I'm going to be skipping a lot and summarizing a lot because how many "alternate" Naruto beginning fics have you read? I've read a couple dozen, at least. I figure for the most part we all know what's going on, so I'm not going to subject you to more than is absolutely necessary.

Also, you'll probably be lucky to get an update by Christmas, sorry guys.

Thanks again to my beta reader! *hug*

* * *

_Last Time: The blond's eyes hardened as he glared at the jounin. "This is your punishment for cheating. Maybe you should reconsider. I won't give you another chance until you explain to your team exactly how you cheated."_

_He turned his head to look at the other two. "If anyone feeds him, they will fail immediately." Sakura gulped a little while Sasuke didn't look up and Naruto continued his glare. "I'm the rule here, got it?" Kakashi asked, his voice going dangerously quiet._

_With that, he handed the two boxes to Sasuke and Sakura before disappearing and leaving the three academy graduates on their own._

The three children sat in silence, the only sound coming from the slight chewing as Sakura and Sasuke ate their lunches. Neither one looked at the other, each focusing on their own thoughts until a new noise broke through the silence.

All three looked up, Sasuke and Sakura shooting a look over at Naruto, who was obviously the source of the loud grumbling but whiny sound. Naruto didn't acknowledge the other two, instead choosing to look straight ahead, trying to maintain what little dignity he had left. After his rumbling stomach quieted down, they returned to their lunches.

Surprisingly, it was Sakura who broke the silence. "Nee, Naruto," she said slowly and quietly. "H-how exactly did you..." she gulped, refusing to look back at him, "you know...er..."

"Cheat?" he finished for her nonchalantly.

She blushed a little from embarrassment, feeling annoyed at herself for sounding so weak. "Yeah."

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke who had turned to look up at the other two expectantly. "Yeah," he said. "How exactly can you cheat on a test like this?"

The blond boy thought for a moment, going over everything in his mind. He didn't see a way out of this that wouldn't completely hurt and betray the other two. It's not that he particularly cared, but if he had to work with them or no one, he'd put up with it just to try and get out of the city every once and a while. If the other two didn't trust him, he didn't see how he could ever leave at all.

Finally, he figured he'd start with least of his problems first. "I tried to eat lunch while he was out looking for you two."

The other two stared at him for a moment, Sakura looking surprised and Sasuke looking impressed. "Way to go!" Sasuke grinned.

Naruto blinked, immediately suspicious. "Wait, you're not mad?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Nah. You have to eat more than everyone else for some reason. I don't blame you. Actually, here."

With that, he held out his half-eaten lunch to Naruto.

"You can't do that, idiot," the blue-clad boy rolled his eyes. "If you do, you'll fail."

Sasuke shrugged. "So?"

Sakura blinked over at the orange clad Uchiha, staring for a moment at his smile before sighing herself. "Me too," she held hers out as well.

Naruto looked nothing short of flabbergasted.

"Besides," Sasuke continued to grin up at him, "if that's all you did--"

"It's not," Naruto muttered. Both of them blinked at him, unconsciously lowering their food as they awaited an explanation. A slight breeze blew by while Naruto looked down, his eyes obscured by his bangs. "I...I also thought that if I lost, that I'd just go back to the academy, so I tried to lose."

That threw the other two for a loop. "But," Sakrua started, trying not to look too confused or upset, "why?" Her Naruto didn't want to be on a team with her? She knew he probably hated her, but that much?

Suddenly, Sasuke stood up and marched over to the tied up boy. He stood there for several seconds, staring hard at his friend. Just as Naruto opened his mouth to say something, Sasuke reached out and swatted him over the head. Sakura took a step back, eyes wide and mouth open. Weren't these two supposed to be friends?

"You idiot," Sasuke said, still staring hard at Naruto. "If you fail, we ALL fail. Just because you wanted us to move on...we don't need someone who will just sacrifice themselves when it's the obvious solution. When we're on a mission, either we all make it, or none of us do. If we don't work for that, too many people will die."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. This was the first time she'd heard Sasuke sound serious. What he said also made sense. Of course Naruto would try to fail so they could make it. She could see him doing that. She couldn't help but look down, trying to hide a smile. He really was amazing, wasn't he? Well, now she could see they both were.

"Who'd sacrifice themselves for you?" Naruto suddenly said back. Sasuke simply grinned, holding up a his chopsticks with food at the end. Still pouting, Naruto turned his head away for just a moment before his stomach tried to start another earthquake. Then, grumbling to himself and rather begrudgingly, he turned and began to eat the food that had been offered to him. Sakura wasn't far behind, more than happy to try and feed Naruto, blushing the whole while.

They hadn't been doing so for more than three minutes when they all felt a presence emanating an obvious murderous intent behind them. A huge cloud of dust suddenly appeared whipping and swirling around them. Sasuke covered his eyes, but refused to move out of the way between himself and the other two.

"You three!" Kakashi's head suddenly popped out of the the dust cloud, directly in front of Sasuke's face, showing far more emotion than any of the children had seen before. He looked livid. Naruto and Sasuke both gulped, trying to back up and away from the other ninja. Sakura actually shrieked.

The wind died down slightly and the older man continued to speak. "You all broke the rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?" He made several hand signs, causing the heavens to begin to roll with clouds, lightning sparking everywhere.

'Wow,' was all Sasuke could think. 'That's incredible.'

"Any last words?" Kakashi's voice rang harsh and low, barely audible over the windless storm.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't open his mouth. Instead, he took a more defensive stance. Sakura sat on the ground, clutching her head and shaking.

"Wait," Naruto growled out, causing all of them to look over at him.

"Huh?" Kakashi said threateningly.

"You said we had to work together, right?"

"Yeah," Sasuke suddenly jumped in. "We're a three-man team, right?"

Sakura blinked, her eyes wide. "Y-yeah," she knelt up, putting on a determined face. "We three are the same!"

Kakashi didn't look like he bought it for a second, marching forward while holding his hands in the ram sign. "You three," he said with accentuated steps, "are the same?" He bent down, continuing to glare at them, but the children would not back down. They met him glare for glare.

Suddenly, the jounin's face relaxed in an obvious smile. "You pass!"

Sakura's face opened in surprise for the second time in about a minute. "Huh?"

Naruto continued to glare, still looking suspicious. Sasuke didn't back down, but he also looked more than a little surprised.

"You pass!" Kakashi repeated.

"We pass? Why?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

The clouds slowly melted away, now that they weren't held by a jutsu, allowing the sunlight to show through. 'That had to be an illusion,' Sasuke couldn't help but think to himself, as his mind wouldn't process anything else at the moment. He didn't dare hope that this maniac had actually let them--

"You three are the first," Kakashi continued. "The people I had before were just blockheads who wouldn't listen to what I said." He stood up, but his face never lost intensity as he continued to look at the three children. "Ninjas need to think outide the ordinary. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are called scum, but those who don't take care of their comrades are worse scum."

The three kids continued to gaze up at their new teacher happily. Sakura had a grin from ear to ear as she clapped her hands together softly and excitedly. Naruto grinned in relief, looking like he wanted to cry but wouldn't. Sasuke couldn't help but look like he wanted to cry too, but wouldn't let more than a small smile escape his lips.

'This is for you, Onii-san,' he thought to himself and looked up at the sun. 'This is where I start on my path to save you.'

"Training ends here!" Kakashi's hard voice sounded again. "All three of you pass. The seventh group will start their missions tomorrow!" With that, he held up his thumb and (to the children's horror) struck a rather lame pose.

Sakura's grin got even wider. "Yes sir!" she said loudly. Sasuke didn't say anything, still looking at the sky.

"I'm a ninja," Naruto said softly. "I'm a ninja."

"Let's go," Kakashi said, then turned and began to walk away.

'Alright!' Sakrua thought to herself, imagining a triumphant, aggressive pose in her mind. It took her a moment to realize that she alone followed their new teacher, and turned around.

"There," Sasuke grinned at Naruto as the ropes tying the other boy to the log fell down, having been untied by the Uchiha.

"I didn't need your help," the blond boy muttered, but for once, he didn't sound like he meant it at all.

xXx

How did this happen, again? Naruto asked himself as they walked through the forest just outside of the villaige.

He wasn't sure if this were some sort of dream or--

"Nee, nee, Naruto! Look at this!" Sasuke's voice came racing through his thought process from somewhere behind him.

...Some sort of nightmare. Naruto sighed and tried not to shake his head. Really, one minute they had come back to the Hokage tower after their umpteenth D-rank mission, then Sasuke had complained (threw a tantrum really) and now they were on their way to the wave country.

On one hand, Naruto absolutely _loved_ the fact that he was getting out of that stupid village. He loved the fact that he couldn't ever possibly get to know all of these trees or the paths or the animals or _anything_ as well as he knew practically every inch of ground inside of Konoha's walls. He felt _free _for the first time in his life.

On the other hand, he sneaked a glance back over his shoulder and couldn't help but groan. Beside him, Sakura gasped and let out a small shriek.

"_What is that thing?!_" she squealed, nearly attacking their sensei to hide behind him.

"It's a toad," Sasuke blinked at her reaction as he responded to it. "I've always been able to find them," he said. "I think they like me."

"Keep them away from me," he muttered, annoyed. For some reason, he'd always disliked toads, frogs and (for some reason he really could not fathom) slugs. He _really_ hated slugs. Sasuke only did things like that when he got bored and wanted to get a rise out of his friend.

Sakura shuddered and continued to half-hide behind a half-amused, half-annoyed Kakashi. "I hate them too," she said. From the gleam in the dark-haired boy's eye as he watched his new, pink-haired teammate, he'd found a new target. Naruto didn't know whether to be grateful or worried as he didn't think the pinkette would take well to Sasuke's pranks, and figured he'd some how get stuck in the middle.

"How do you know it's a toad?" Kakashi asked, spaking up for the first time since they'd left the village.

"Oh," Sasuke shrugged. "That's easy. It hasn't rained in a while and there aren't any ponds near here, so it has to be a toad. Besides, toads look different..." he continued to point out several small anatomical differences, much to his teammates' annoyance.

That's when Naruto noticed the small puddles in the road ahead, and blinked. Hadn't Sasuke just said...? Something definitely felt off about those two little puddles...

He eyed them carefully as they walked by, trying not to look too obvious. Sasuke, he noted, also watched the water, but went back to his toads almost immediately. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura didn't even seem to notice at all.

If a jounin could walk by and not notice anything, then obviously there was nothing to worry about. Shrugging it off, he continued past the puddle. Not three steps later, a huge murderous intent from behind had him whipping his head around so quickly he nearly gave himself whiplash.

The next thing he knew, Kakashi-sensei had sharp, jagged chains wrapped around him; chains obviously meant for cutting and tearing. Which is exactly what they did.

The two ninja holding the ends of said chains (where did they come from?!) yanked on their ends, hard, and before their eyes, their sensei disappeared in a flash of blood.

"First one."

Sakura screamed, while Sasuke dropped into a defensive position near the old man they were supposed to be protecting.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, disbelief heavy in his tone. What was...how could...this happen? He blinked, trying to process the still flying and now empty chains. That's when he felt the presence behind him.

"Second one," the voice said. Naruto turned to see the two ninja in brown camouflage with metal masks over the bottom of their faces. That was all he could really realize before they rushed him. He saw the chains coming toward him, and knew he couldn't duck. He didn't even have time to close his eyes, and then--

_Clang! Clang! _

The chains had changed direction and now embedded themselves into a nearby tree via one throwing star and one kunai. Naruto turned his head upwards to see Sasuke, who had leapt over them (and obviously been the source of the two weapons that had saved Naruto's life) and landed on their pinned arms. Then, almost too quickly for Naruto to follow, he switched his weight onto his hands and thrust out his feet, catching the other two in the face with his heels.

They reeled backwards, away from Naruto who couldn't help but stare in amazement. He knew he couldn't pull off a stunt like that in his wildest dreams, and yet...somehow this all felt familiar.

At this point, the ninjas obviously figured they'd cut their losses and released the chains from the contraptions strapped to their arms, turning their aim towards their intended target. The grumpy old man only glared at them, falling into a slightly more defensive stance himself and looking as defiant as ever.

Sakura saw the nearest one coming, and blanched. Naruto watched from where he'd been knocked onto the ground as she moved to intercept, despite her obvious terror. Sasuke turned and also moved in front of her in such a way that even Naruto could tell he wouldn't be able to block if--

A sudden arm came out of nowhere and stopped the ninja in his tracks.

"Yo." Hatake Kakashi stood before them, whole and healthy, the second ninja already under his other arm.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled with a huge smile on her face.

"Then that was..." Naruto looked behind him at where he'd seen his teacher's body sliced before his eyes not moments before to see several sliced pieces of wood, obviously from the same replacement log. "Show off," the blond-haired boy pouted to cover his relief.

"Naruto." He looked back at the white-haired man. "Sorry for not helping you out earlier. Because of that you got hurt. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move." Naruto's eyes widened as he heard those words that seemed to pierce right through to his heart. Kakashi-sensei was right. He hadn't been able to move! He should have at least tried! If it hadn't been for Sasuke...

"Anyway, Sasuke," Kakshi continued, walking up to the other two. "Good job." Then he turned to the girl. "You too, Sakura."

Naruto felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't do anything while the other two had put their lives on the line. Sasuke hadn't been afraid at all. He had almost seemed like a completely different person. He'd calmly helped without marking his clothes up at all. Not one speck of dirt on that brilliant yellow...

"Hey, are you hurt?" The dark-haired boy turned to Naruto. "I mean, you're okay, right?" It could have just been Naruto's imagination, but he could have sworn he could see those blue eyes accusing him of being too scared to even move. Of being too useless to even be out here with them at all.

He grit his teeth, half-tempted to just charge the prodigy when he heard Kakshi call his name. "Naruto, these guys have poison in their nails and on their chains. You're cut and we need to treat it right away. "

At this, the blond boy realized his hand was stinging. Had been for a while. When had they gotten him? "We need to open up the wound and leech out the poisoned blood. Don't move that much or the poison will spread through your body." Naruto didn't answer, looking down at the back of his hand like it had betrayed him.

"By the way, Tsuzuna-san," Kakshi-sensei continued.

The man jumped. "W-what is it?" he asked, obviously trying and failing to sound innocent.

Kakshi-sensei's face took on a stern expression. "I need to talk to you," he said, his tone as cold as ice. They spent a few moments tying up the ninja to a nearby tree before he spoke again. "These ninja are chunin from the Hidden Village of the Mist. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter what."

At this, one of the two spoke up, having recently regained consciousness. "How could you detect our movements?!" he shot at Kakashi-sensei.

"Sasuke said it himself. It hadn't rained for several days, so there shouldn't be a puddle in the middle of nowhere. I knew it had to be a trap of some sort."

"Then why did you let the kids fight?" Tsuzuna asked.

Kakshi-sensei shrugged. "If I'd wanted to, I could have killed these two in the blink of an eye, but I needed to know who their intended target is." With that, he shot a glare at the bridge builder who hadn't said much more than the one or two insults at Sasuke for being too loud.

"What do you mean?" the old man asked warily.

"I mean, were you being targeted, or was it someone from our ninja group?" With that, he turned to face the older man completely, looking extremely intimidating. "You see, we haven't heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. You requested protection from gangs and robbers. If they are targeting you, this is above a B-rank mission because our job was to protect you until you completed your bridge.

"So if you are indeed the target, this would have been a particularly expensive B-rank mission." The man didn't respond, but even Naruto could see him sweating beneath that large, strangely-shaped hat. This only seemed to confirm Kakashi-sensei's accusations. "You undoubtedly have your own reasons, but it only causes us trouble when you lie in your request details. This wasn't part of the mission."

Sakura took a small step forward. "So, this mission is out of our league." She said it as more of a statement than a question. "Let's quit then," she said with a shrug, although the worried expression never really left her face. "We need medicine to take the poison out of Naruto too, so let's go back to the village and see a doctor."

Naruto couldn't help but cringe slightly as she brought his name into this. He didn't want to be part of the reason they would go back to the village. Sure, the outside world wasn't as great as he'd dreamed, but it was still better than that festering boil of a town.

Vaguely he wondered where that kind of language had come from before he dismissed it as something he'd picked up from Iruka or something.

Kakshi-sensei shrugged. "This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the Vilage and take care of Naruto."

Why Naruto was stupid enough to do what he did next he would never know. He only knew two things: A. He did not want to go back to the village, and B. he would not be a burden. He'd taken the kunai out of his pocket and slammed it into the back of his hand before he could think enough to stop himself. If they had to bleed it out of him, then they could bleed it out of him out here. Why did they have to go back to the village?

It felt kind of good to see the looks of utter shock on everyone's faces (except for Sasuke, who only looked worried, which only succeeded to tick Naruto off more).

"I am not going to be the reason we go back," he said, voicing his thoughts out loud and trying to focus on anything but the intense pain now in his hand.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, rushing forward a few feet. "What are you doing?!"

He turned and shot a glare at her. "Do you think that I'm not prepared to go on this mission? I've worked hard to get here, and I will get stronger. I won't drag you down. I won't let you drag me down. I promise." With that he held up the back of his bleeding hand to show his vow would be made with blood.

"The mission is still on!" Sasuke interpreted with a grin and a thumbs up.

"That's nice," Kakashi-sensei said, "but you'll die of blood loss if you bleed anymore."

Naruto looked down at his hand and blinked at it as if he couldn't seem to grasp the concept.

"Seriously," Kakashi-sensei walked up to him and whispered loudly, "It won't be good if you don't stop it now." When he didn't respond and only continued to stare, the jounin sighed and held out his palm. "Give me your hand."

Obeditently the blond haired boy thrust his hand towards his sensei, who took it and began to inspect the damage. His eyes widened when he saw what should have been a wound that was at least a day old, not a few seconds.

'It's healing at an accellerated rate,' he thought to himself. 'Why?'

"Um..." he heard Sasuke mutter and looked up to see the dark haired boy had come up behind his friend, looking rather sick himself. "Is he going to be alright? You have such a serious look on your face..."

Naruto looked like he wanted to agree, but didn't want to give Sasuke the satisfaction of knowing he did. Kakashi simply took out a bandage and began to wrap the wound.

"You should be okay," he said to a rather relieved looking Naruto.

'This must be the Kyuubi's powers,' he thought to himself, not wondering what he would do if said powers began manifesting themselves more obviously...or worse.


	26. Fighting the Mist

_**Story summary:** Naruto used a jutsu that was supposed to let him see inside Sasuke's head. In reality, it sent them both back to their births and they switched places. Naruto (now Sasuke) grew up as an Uchiha while Sasuke (now Naruto) grew up alone.  
_

**_Previous chapter end:_**

_"Seriously," Kakashi-sensei walked up to him and whispered loudly, "It won't be good if you don't stop it now." When he didn't respond and only continued to stare, the jounin sighed and held out his palm. "Give me your hand."_

_Obediently the blond haired boy thrust his hand towards his sensei, who took it and began to inspect the damage. His eyes widened when he saw what should have been a wound that was at least a day old, not a few seconds._

_'It's healing at an accelerated rate,' he thought to himself. 'Why?'_

_"Um..." he heard Sasuke mutter and looked up to see the dark haired boy had come up behind his friend, looking rather sick himself. "Is he going to be alright? You have such a serious look on your face..."_

_Naruto looked like he wanted to agree, but didn't want to give Sasuke the satisfaction of knowing he did. Kakshi simply took out a bandage and began to wrap the wound._

_"You should be okay," he said to a rather relieved looking Naruto._

_'This must be the Kyuubi's powers,' he thought to himself, not wondering what he would do if said powers began manifesting themselves more obviously...or worse._

_**NOTE: This is not beta'd.**  
_

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Part 2 - Chapter 9

"Sharingan?" Sasuke blurted out, obviously surprised. Naruto didn't like that tone in the other's voice. He'd only just been saved by a very focused Sasuke earlier (as much as he loathed to admit it). This man—this mist jounin—was far worse than the other two combined. Sasuke happened to be the best fighter on their team next to their jounin sensei. Now was not a good time to lose that focus.

"W-what's that?" Sakura dared to venture.

The Uchiha "Sharingan users have the ability to read and defeat all types of taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. But that isn't all." Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes. Sure, why not tell the enemy _exactly_ what your techniques were? Yeah, smart idea

"No, that isn't all," the missing nin said with a kind of hungry tinge to his voice that almost downright scared Naruto. Almost. "Sharingan users can copy their opponent's techniques once you see them. You know, when I was a member of the Hidden Mist Assassination's team I kept a handbook. It included information of you, and this is what it said: The man who has copied over 1000 jutsu, Copy Ninja Kakashi."

Sasuke was staring in open shock and amazement now, while Sakura had covered her gasp, looking both confused and awed. Even Naruto couldn't help but feel impressed.

"Now let's end the talking," the ex-mist nin said, sounding suddenly bored and anticipatory at the same time. "I have to kill the old man." Then he'd glanced down at the silver-haired ninja. "But Kakashi, it seems I have to beat you first."

Then the ninja pushed off from the tree, landed_ on _the water and vanished.

And that's when it all hit the fan.

The mist began to get thicker almost instantly, and a voice had come to them, talking all too casually about the best places on a body to kill someone. Naruto tried his best to tune it out, but it didn't work.

Kakashi's chakra suddenly exploded, driving away a good portion of the mist, but it didn't touch the murderous intent. They all felt it, and all reacted. Sakura froze as sweat appeared on Sasuke's face...a face set with determination despite the fact that he looked like he didn't want to move. Naruto paled, the only thing stopping the intent let off by the two Jounins from getting to him was the fact that he'd met something even more murderous before...heck, the thing lived inside of him.

"Don't worry," their Sensei's voice came back to them as he looked over his shoulder, eyes smiling. "I won't let anyone on my team die."

Even just those words helped immensely, giving the three children a much needed emotional bolster. With renewed determination, they fixed their stances, determined to not let anyone or anything near the old man.

Nevertheless, despite their best efforts, not moments later the murderous intent solidified behind them...and in front of the old man. They barely had time to register shock before Kakashi jumped towards the group, driving a kunai into Zabuza's stomach and stopping the attack on the old man with that single move. For the barest moment, everything froze. Then, the murderous intent shifted ever so slightly as an exact copy of the missing nin appeared just behind Kakashi. The man the Jounin had driven his kunai into vanished in a splash of water just as the second one moved, using his giant sword to slice the silver-haired man in two...only to have him disappear in the same manner.

_He copied his technique?_ Naruto thought to himself, eyes wide again.

"Don't move," the apparently real Kakashi whispered harshly, his kunai already at Zabuza's throat. "This is the end."

"That was incredible!" Sasuke yelled out. Sakura smiled in relief, and Naruto didn't say anything, but he had to admit to himself at least that he was impressed; well, at least until Zabuza chuckled darkly.

"This is the end?" he asked, not moving a muscle, but somehow oozing a sense of a menacing confidence. "You don't understand. You can't beat me with your imitations.

"But I have to admit," he continued on almost nonchalantly, "you're pretty good. You copied my water clone technique when you told your brats that you wouldn't let them die." He chuckled again. "You had your clone speak, and that diverted my attention to it while you used the mist concealment technique to hide and watch me.

"However—" his voice once again came from behind Kakashi wile the second missing nin clone exploded into water. "I'm not that easy to defeat."

_That was fake too?_ Naruto wanted to yell, but kept his mouth firmly closed. Sasuke was already way too open with his shock, letting out a yelp of surprise followed by a few strangled words. Zabuza wasted no time in swinging his sword towards the Konoha nin from below. To his credit, Kakashi avoided the blow, but the missing nin utilized the momentum and shoved his sword into the ground, which he then used as a pivot point to add extra strength to the kick that hit Kakashi squarely on his head.

Somehow, the Jounin kept his neck from snapping, but his body quite literally flew because of it, landing in the nearby water. Zabuza returned his determined look to the obviously scared old man, and in a flash had started towards him, sword once again in hand.

Then, suddenly, he stopped, for some reason Naruto couldn't quite understand. If he had to guess, it had something to do with the small, dark, sharp objects littering the ground near the stream. The missing nin muttered something under his breath, and then dived into the same water Kakashi had sunk under not seconds before. Almost immediately, Kakshi rose out of the water slightly, looking as if he were struggling.

"Idiot," Zabuza appeared behind him, already forming hand signals. "Hydro prison technique."

And that quickly, Kaskahi found himself entrapped in a sphere of water floating above the stream, connected to the man's hand. "You fell for it. This is a special prison you can't escape from," he explained almost gleefully. "Now, I'll finish you later," he turned his glare (and consequently his murderous intent) on the four still on the bank, staring up at him in horror.

His hand moved to his chest, two finger sticking straight up as he molded chakra. "Water clone technique."

The three teenagers' eyes widened even more (if that were even possible) as Zabuza's clone rose from the water, and advanced towards the group. He started spouting off how they weren't ninja because they hadn't gone through the necessary experiences to claim such a title. Then he vanished, and the next thing Naruto knew he too had flown through the air backwards, his hitai-ate flying off as he landed, only to be stomped on by the missing nin when it too hit the ground. "Brats," he accused.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Everyone!" Kakashi's voice suddenly called out, sounding slightly desperate. "Take Tazuna-san and run! You can't win against him! He can't move while holding me here, and he can't use his water clone if you're out of range!"

Even Naruto, lying on the ground and scared witless had to glance at his Sensei, just to make sure he hadn't misheard. _Are you kidding me? _He asked himself. Somehow, he seemed to know that the moment Kakashi was taken out of the battle, running was no longer an option, and any chance at winning had been utterly squashed. Zabuza would catch up with them eventually. That was a fact even he as "dead last" could see. Kakashi was their best chance at surviving, and that was all there was to it.

"Do you think we'd leave you behind, Sensei?" Sasuke suddenly yelled out, rushing forward and throwing just about everything in his arsenal at the man. Zabuza swung, easily dispatching all of the flying objects with a single swipe. Sasuke used that moment to jump into the air, and came down with a kunai aimed for his eye. It should puncture the brain and—

"Too easy," Zabuza muttered. Faster than Naruto (or even Sasuke) could follow, he shot his hand up and clamped it around the youth's throat before throwing him to the side with a look of disgust, as if he'd just had to touch a piece of garbage.

_He beat Sasuke..._ Naruto's numb mind managed to think as he stared up at the man, trying not to shiver.

_This is a Jounin...a real ninja. We have no choice! At this rate, we'll all be killed for sure! _His brain had switched into panic mode, and he turned to run, but bumped his bandaged hand against ground as he stood. It stung with pain, but while he winced, that didn't seem to matter much. He could only stare at the bandage.

So he'd finally attained some semblance of freedom, and this was how he was going to use it? By running away? Abandoning his teammates and his mission? He'd be labeled as a missing nin...a _weak_ missing nin, and they'd hunt him down. His promise came back to mind, about how he wasn't going to hold anyone back. If he ran now, it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

His eyes caught the blue material sticking out from under the clone's feet, and Iruka-sensei's face suddenly flashed through his head; one of the only people to have ever given him the benefit of the doubt, and probably the only adult besides the Sandaime who didn't hate him outright. That had been a gift from him, and at that moment, Naruto made his decision. He would _not _leave it behind.

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered to himself, and then pulled a Sasuke. His face set in grim determination, he raced at Zabuza, keeping his eyes locked on the older man's chest and sword.

"You idiot!" Kakashi yelled, causing Naruto to wonder briefly if he could breathe inside that water.

"Naruto?" Sasuke and Sakura said at the same time. He didn't remember the man moving, but the next moment he'd been knocked back a second time, rolling along the ground.

Sakura gasped. "Why did you run in like that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Sasuke agreed. "You know better than to go rushing in alone when you can't stand up to him!"

Naruto ignored them, instead pushing himself determinedly to his feet, despite his obviously overtaxed body. That's when both of the standing genin stopped and blinked at the object he held in his hand. His blue hitai-ate.

_Why did he...just to get the hitai-ate? _For some reason that highly surprised Sakura. It just didn't seem like something Naruto would do.

"You may want to put us in your book," he said suddenly, looking up at the man with a glare.

"Why?" came the scornful response, although his tone didn't sound as carefree, and his murderous intent had risen even higher.

Naruto chose not to answer, instead glaring as he tied the hitai-ate around his head. The solution had come to him. He didn't know how, or why, but he could just see it now. It even seemed somewhat obvious, even familiar...

He shoved that thought to the back of his head and spoke quietly. "Sasuke, I have a plan."

For a moment the boy didn't say anything, and Naruto wondered if he'd heard, but then a whooping "YOSH!" came from the direction of his "best friend". Sasuke came running up behind him, waiting for the right moment to plan. Sakura, feeling rather vulnerable without someone else standing by her side, gulped but took up the slack, standing protectively in front of their charge.

Kakashi began yelling for them to leave again, but they didn't listen. After a quick affirmative from the old man, the kids went back to staring at the clone, that didn't seem to like to move away from its master, thankfully.

Still, Zabuza only watched them, his glare fading to an amused look. "You three don't learn very fast, do you?"

"What was that?" Sasuke yelled out.

"Still pretending to play ninja," the water clone continued. "When I was your age, my hands were already soaked in blood."

"What?" Sasuke asked, slightly more subdued. It was Kakshi that answered, telling of the final test in the hidden mist village, where the graduates had to fight each other to the death. Zabuza had killed everyone else in his class. His friends, his enemies, the people he didn't even know that well.

The ninja finished the story himself, and all he could say was "that was fun" with a mad gleam in his eye. Then the clone attacked Sasuke. Even weakened and away from its master, it still easily took the Genin down.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto growled out. At least two dozen clones appeared, surrounding the older man.

"Oh?" the missing-nin said, sounding just the slightest bit surprised. "Shadow clone, and quite a few."

As one, they attacked, piling on their target. It didn't work too well as the man simply used a burst of chakra to his muscles which sent them skidding along the ground or ramming into trees. Almost all of them vanished within seconds.

"I'll only have a chance at this once," Naruto said to himself, reaching into his backpack. "Teme!" he called out, "Catch!"

Sasuke reached his hand out and caught the spinning weapon easily. As soon as he did, he couldn't help but smile. Wasting no time, he launched himself into the air and shot the giant shuriken at the water clone. "Fuma shuriken, shadow wind clone!"

"A shuriken won't work on me," Zabuza said, sounding a little disappointed. His face fell even more when he didn't even have to dodge it. Instead it flew right by.

"You're going after the real thing this time," the real Zabuza commented almost boredly. He caught the giant weapon easily, but felt his eyes widen when another one whirled around, coming in his direction. It had been hidden in the shadow. Good technique, but... He jumped high, still maintaining contact with the spherical prison and dodging the weapon at the same time.

Sakura looked like she wanted to panic, but Sasuke only grinned in triumph, much to her and the old man's surprise. Now harmlessly behind him, Zabuza didn't see the shuriken turn into a boy in a blue and black outfit, although he did hear it, but not fast enough. Naruto launched a kunai at the missing nin, who only barely realized he wouldn't be able to dodge it without—

In that instant, his hand left the water prison as he dodged the kunai. He didn't quite get out of the way as it nicked his cheek, stinging more than a little. "You brat!" he shouted, twirling the large kunai in his hand and preparing to throw it just before it caught on something...someone's hand.

xXx

It didn't take Kakashi long to realize he'd been freed. It also didn't take long for him to jump in, sticking out his hand to stop the blade the missing nin planned on shooting at Naruto, who splashed into the water. The Jounin's eyes glared in a silent, grim determination up at Zabuza. "That was a good plan, Naruto," he said after the blond's head had broken through the surface, although his eyes never left his opponent.

Naruto said nothing for a moment, but a small smile tugged at his lips. He nodded in his teacher's direction. "It was just luck," he muttered finally and started to swim towards the shore.

The rest of the fight passed by in a daze for the kids, he was sure. Naruto didn't quite make it out of the river before he and Zabuza started launching the same jutsu at each other. Two giant water dragons twisted and turned as they fought, raining water everywhere. When Zabuza realized that wouldn't work, he charged forward and then they locked sword and kunai, each glaring at the other angrily. Then they parted, and started to circle as they splashed across the surface of the water and began forming seals again.

Everything the missing nin tried was reciprocated each time at the exact same time. Then Kakashi really started freaking him out by "reading his thoughts" and predicting his moves. After a well placed water jutsu that had Naruto clinging to a tree on the bank to keep from being swept away and the others covering their eyes and bracing themselves against the current that washed over them, Zabuza ended up pinned to a tree courtesy of several kunai.

"How..." the missing nin grunted to Kakashi, who sat on the branch above him. "You...can you see the future?"

"Yeah," the silver-haired jounin said back, no mirth in his voice, "You're going to die."

Before he'd even gotten the chance to move, two small needles flew through the air and landed in the missing nin's neck. For the umpteenth time that day, everyone's eyes flew open in surprise, watching Zabuza slump against the tree, his eyes closing slowly.

Kakashi turned to see a new figure standing in another tree not a hundred yards away, a fairly short figure with a swirling red and white mask.

"It was true," the masked figure said, "he did die."

Not trusting the newcomer's words, Kakshi jumped down, landing on the wet ground beside the now still figure and felt for a pulse.

"He really is dead!" he confirmed and looked back at the masked person.

"Thank you," he/she said with a bow. "I have been looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."

Not sounding happy at all, Kakashi looked up and spoke. "With that mask, you must be a hunter nin from the hidden village of the mist."

"You are well informed."

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto whispered, walking up behind his friend, "A hunter nin takes care of missing nins, right?"

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, although his glare never left the hunter nin. There was something about this guy... After a few more moments of silence, he couldn't take it anymore. Running several steps forward, he pointed up at the masked figure. "Just who are you?" he yelled.

Kakashi stood from his position, his face taking on neutrality once again. "Calm down, Sasuke. He's not an enemy."

"It's not that," Sasuke muttered, his eyes darkening. "It's just that...he was killed," his eyes returned to the body. "By a kid no older than me." Once again, Kakashi found himself taken aback slightly when he saw not Sasuke or Obito in the boy's expression, but Itachi. He only saw it for a split second, but that tired but otherwise emotionless face had been there. "I can't accept that."

Shaking it off and hoping he sounded more nonchalant than he felt, Kakashi shrugged. "I can understand how you can't accept that, but this is real." He reached out to put a hand on Sasuke's head, but Obito's disappointed face had returned, and he found he couldn't bring himself to touch the kid. Instead, he let it drop back to his side.

"In this world," he continued, "there are kids younger than you, but stronger than me."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at this, but he showed no other outward sign that he'd been listening. Sakura's eyes had lowered, her eyes firmly fixed on the ground.

Apparently, the hunter nin had seen enough, because he used some sort of wind jutsu to land beside the body and hefted it over their shoulder. "Your battle ends here, for now," the child said. "I must go and dispose of the corpse as it is a body filled with secrets. If you'll excuse me." And with that, both figures vanished once again, leaving the Konoha nins and their charge in a misty silence.

"What was that?" Sasuke shouted, dropping to his knees and punching the soggy ground. "What were we?" He began to swear as he continued to pound the ground. Feeling all too familiar, Kakashi acted out of habit and grabbed the boy's arm, just as he had grabbed Obito's more than once. "In the world of the ninja, things like this happen," he said, wishing he didn't sound so much like he had back then. "If you don't like it," he continued, his voice just a little more kind, "make it up next time."

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke relaxed slightly, although he never stood up.

"Our mission hasn't ended yet," Kakashi turned to the others. "We still need to take Tazuna-san to his house."

In response, the old man pasted a smile on his face. "Sorry about that, everyone! You can just rest at my place."

Kakashi spared one more painful glance down at Sasuke. Obito had always been so cheerful and hopeful, even when he was frustrated. He hated seeing someone who reminded him so much of his former teammate that upset. "So," he said aloud. "Let's cheer up and keep going."

With that, he turned around and began to walk forward when his already tired body seemed to finally reach its limit. Dang it, he thought he'd be able to make it a little further at least...

"Sensei? What's wrong?" Sakura shrieked, running forward, Naruto and Tazuna on her heels. That was the last thing he remembered hearing before he blacked out.

xXx

_A few days later…_

Naruto sat at the bottom of the tree he'd taken to climbing up. Looking at it now, he couldn't help but feel the frustration inside of him smolder. True, he'd been making progress, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to even come close to catching Sasuke. Part of that, he suspected, was Sasuke talking to Sakura, probably to ask for advice.

He wished he had someone he could talk to. It wasn't like he was going to ask Sakura. Besides, after a day and a half of training, she'd disappeared, apparently to watch the bridge crew while they worked, just in case Zabuza (who apparently _wasn't_ dead—and so much for Kakashi having no exploitable flaws) attacked. Their "sensei" had been inside on strict bed rest, and Naruto strongly suspected the silver-haired jounin hadn't really forgiven him for "cheating" on the test, so he wasn't about to try and ask him.

It wasn't like he could or would talk to Tazuna-san, his daughter or his crybaby of a grandson. They wouldn't know anything anyway, not being ninja.

That just left one person...

He knew he was gonna hate himself in the morning. Clearing his throat he looked over at the black-haired boy, who had also been resting for a moment and contemplating his tree. "Oi, Sasuke."

Surprised, the Uchiha looked over at him. Dang, Naruto _really_ didn't want to do this. "You...talked to Sakura, right?" he asked, feeling a little color come to his cheeks. He couldn't stand sinking to this level, but...he really needed to get this. "You asked her for advice, right? W-what did she say?"

Did he _really_ sound as weak as he thought he did?

For several seconds, Sasuke just blinked at him. Then he smiled mischievously. "Not telling."

_What?_ Naruto yelped in his mind.

"'Cause," the dark-haired boy's grin suddenly turned genuine. "You already know." With that, he turned and very calmly put one foot on the tree, walking straight up the side. Naruto watched in a rather horrified amazement. He made it about as far as he had before when his chakra gave out...this time without the previous boost of running before hand.

"See?" he asked.

With that, he took another run at the tree, heading straight up the side and falling back into the previous routine. Naruto turned back to his own tree with a frustrated "che". What had all that meant? Really, why did he go back to running if he could just walk up the side? It was probably even more of a feat to overcome walking calmly, so it would be more impressive if he continued to do things that way.

That's when it hit him. That's why Sasuke had done that...to tell him to relax. The teme. Why hadn't he just come out and said it?

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and willed his over-taxed muscles to relax. Then he took a casual jog towards the tree and got a good four feet above his previous mark.

"Sasuke, you idiot," he muttered under his breath as he fell from the tree, executing a decent turn to land on his feet (one he'd perfected after falling so many times). This time, though, he didn't really feel those words. Instead, he rolled his eyes, ignored the slight smile on his face and ran at the tree again.

* * *

_Yes, I updated. The world will end now._

_I didn't want to abandon this, I'd just seen a billion and a half redos of the first part of the series (and I'm thinking about doing one from Sakura's POV), so I started lacking motivation. I just went back and looked at this and realized that I had another chapter not beta read but finished. Don't know why I never posted it. Don't expect a lot of updates really quickly, but I am determined to finish this thing! *shakes fist*_

_Oh, also, if anyone is willing to beta read for me (again, sorry, it's been almost two years, I have no idea who I had beta reading this before), please let me know. I'm looking for someone who can get a chapter back to me within a WEEK, and someone who can be HARSH. I may not agree with what you say, but if you point it out to me, I will give it serious thought. I don't want something back with "oh, that looks good." No. Just no. My chapters are not perfect, so please send them back all marked up with red. Thank you._

_Also, I revamped the first chapter (although it's still not perfect) and would like to redo the second chapter so that it's more canon. I mean there will be some changes back at the beginning. Just a warning._


	27. Beginning of the Storm

_**Story summary:** Naruto used a jutsu that was supposed to let him see inside Sasuke's head. In reality, it sent them both back to their births and they switched places. Naruto (now Sasuke) grew up as an Uchiha while Sasuke (now Naruto) grew up alone.  
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**_Note:  
_**

_For some reason the last chapter I posted did not show up in anyone's e-mail. Please read that one first!  
_

_**Also, this is not beta'd! **  
_

* * *

Part 2 - Chapter 1

"Oh, you guys are finally back," Kakashi-sensei said as Sasuke practically dragging Naruto through the door to the run-down house belonging to the old man and his family.

"You both look super dirty and worn out," the bridge builder commented as he noted their appearance.

"We both made it to the top," Sasuke said with a huge grin. Naruto didn't say anything. Instead he practically collapsed onto the table.

Tazuna raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so worn out?"

"Not my fault the teme had to go and drag me out to train every single day," Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke took a seat next to the blond. "You needed it just as bad as I did," he said haughtily. "If not more."

"Shut up, teme," Naruto muttered, seemingly unable to even muster the energy to do much more than that.

"Alright," Kakashi said brightly. "Sasuke, Naruto, tomorrow both of you will help guard Tazuna-san.

The boys seemed to perk up at that. "Ok," they said at the same time, although Sasuke had far more exuberance.

"Heh, heh," Tazuna laughed, "I'm also worn out from today's bridge work. At any rate, the bridge is almost complete." He finished the sentence with a sense of gratification and anticipation, laced by just the slightest touch of fear that he was trying to hide.

"Naruto-kun, Father," Tazuna's daughter scolded as she came to the table, "don't overdo it."

Tazuna managed a somewhat affirmative sound. Naruto didn't respond at all.

"Don't worry about him," Sasuke said tiredly. "He can handle it. He's a Konoha ninja after all."

The blue-eyed boy could have sworn he saw just the slightest twitch of a smile on Naruto's face and couldn't help but grin himself. That's when he noticed the boy, Inari, staring at them with what looked like tears in his eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Why do you guys bother to try so hard?" he yelled suddenly, startling everyone in the room. "No matter how much you train, you're still no match for Gaitou's men! No mater what glorious claims you make or how hard you work! When facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"

Sasuke scoffed. Besides Zabuza and his little companion, he seriously doubted this Gaitou person had people who could stand up to him, let alone Kakashi-sensei or all of team seven together.

"Whatever, kid," he said with a shrug. "We're not like you."

"Don't include m—" Naruto started, but Inari cut him off.

"I'd hate to be like you!" he'd gone beyond yelling and up into screaming now. "You don't know anything about this country and yet you're being so nosy! What do you know about me? Of course I'm different from you! Both of you! You don't care at all," he pointed to Naruto before turning to Sasuke, "and you're always clowning around and acting so cheerful! You don't know how hard life can be!"

The Uchiha felt his face harden. He didn't notice Naruto's fists clenching until the blond twitched, ready to move towards the brat. Before he could, Sasuke reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't," he said emotionlessly. "It seems like its okay for him to pose as the star of the tragedy and cry all day. Just let the little sissy keep on crying forever."

"Baka," Naruto muttered in agreement and turned to follow Sasuke out of the room.

"N-naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura stammered, getting up to follow them. Neither one of them answered.

They didn't break the silence at all as they prepared for bed that night.

xXx

"Goodbye! Please take care of Naruto!" Kakashi said cheerfully. "He's pushed his body to the limit. I don't think he'll be able to move today."

"This is a bad idea," Sasuke muttered. "He's not going to be happy when he wakes up."

He was right.

Not twenty minutes after the team left, Naruto appeared in the front room, a murderous aura leeching off of him.

"They left me behind," the blond said through grit teeth.

"N-naruto-kun," Tazuna's daughter said slowly. "Your sensei said you should rest…" She faded off at his glare. "Y-yes, well please be careful today."

He barely acknowledged her with a nod and turned to leave. He'd gone only about a mile when he noticed the destruction in the forest. Pausing, he surveyed the damage, wondering what he should do. It looked like it was leading back towards the house he'd only just left in a somewhat round-about manner. Should he head back to the house, or should he follow his mission and head to back up his team?

His team _may_ be in trouble, but the civilians certainly would be, if they weren't already. Besides, if one of them were taken as a hostage…

Nodding his head, he turned and raced back to the house. He got there just in time to see the brat rush two men with swords. He managed to rescue Tazuna's daughter and switch the kid out before he got sliced to bits, but it was close. Naruto didn't know whether to be impressed that the kid had stopped crying and stood up for himself, or that he'd gone traipsing in head-long without a plan.

"Next time, use your head," he finally said. "Sasuke will be glad to hear you're not a sissy though."

"Oh look," one of the swordsmen sneered before Inari could answer, "It's one of the loser ninja Tazuna hired."

It only took Naruto two minutes to take them out.

xXx

Kakshi had told his team everything he could about Zabuza's techniques. According to him, all it took was a few major puncture marks to dispel a clone of any kind. They'd seen this confirmed in the fight earlier, as well as with Naruto's clones on a fairly regular basis. As such, Saskue had been able to take them out…loudly. He didn't see a reason to change that fact when he ended up battling the supposed hunter nin.

"Does he ever shut up?" Zabuza growled as he watched the two fight.

"I don't want to kill you," the not-hunter-nin said in a high, tenor voice.

"As if you could!" Sasuke shot back. "I've been training non-stop since we last met."

"That was six days ago."

"That's all a hero like me needs!"

The masked figure sighed. "You won't stand down, will you?"

"Never gonna happen!"

"That is unfortunate." Apparently he'd gotten tired of hearing Naruto talk throughout the battle, because he didn't say anything else as he began to form charka signs with one hand.

That shut Sasuke up.

"Special jutsu, flying water needles," the masked figure said calmly. Sasuke watched in horror as the water around them rose into the air and sharpened into points. He looked back at his opponent and glared, irises fading to red. Then he jumped, forcing charka into his legs.

"That wasn't fair," he said from above, trying to keep his exuberance up, but he could feel the happy expression he'd forced onto his face for the last five years slipping. He tended to do that whenever he got serious about a fight.

The ninja dodged all of his shuriken, heading directly where Sasuke wanted him to. "From now on," he said as he appeared behind the person's back, enjoying being able to throw the words the kid had used earlier back at him, "you'll only be able to run from my attacks."

To his credit, non-hunter-nin did manage to dodge all of his attacks (barely), except the kick that sent him sprawling.

"Try to keep up," Sasuke couldn't help but say.

Kakashi-sensei was saying something about not underestimating the team, but Sasuke tuned him out, allowing his incomplete Sharingan to assess the situation. Unfortunately, with only one tomoe, he could only see through genjutsu, despite training them as best he could for the last five years. He couldn't assess movements or techniques for ninjutsu and he couldn't manage taijutsu either. It didn't even give him the extra speed that it should. He'd have to be able to predict movements before he could do that. No, all of his speed he'd earned on his own, and was more than a little proud of the fact. Still, he had an uneasy feeling about this...

"Heh, heh, heh," Zabuza suddenly chuckled darkly, drawing Sasuke's attention. "Haku, do you realize at this rate we'll be driven back?"

It was a cue, because the masked figure (Haku, apparently) sped through a half-dozen signs. Before Sasuke could figure out what the brat intended, he found himself surrounded by ice mirrors. Not moments later, the masked figure appeared in all of them.

Sasuke whirled around. "What are these mirrors?" he shrieked.

"Well, shall I begin?" Haku said, voice bouncing around Sasuke. "I'll show you my real speed."

He didn't see them coming at all. Hundreds of needles showered him for what could only be a few seconds (although it felt like forever), cutting through his bright colored clothing and top layers of skin.

"Sasuke!" he heard Kakashi-sensei yell, but couldn't even move to look for the sliver-haired man.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked, then a clink followed, and the needles stopped. Sasuke fell to the ground, and it only took him a moment to gain his bearings. Haku no longer appeared in the mirrors, but lay on the ground outside. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but a large grin split his face anyway.

"What took you so long, dobe?"

Zabuza took just a moment to react, throwing a dozen shuriken at the blond, only to have them intercepted and knocked out of the air by needles. Naruto, surprised at the sudden defense, blinked dumbly. Sasuke didn't have the same expression on his face. He didn't, and he would deny anything to the contrary to his dying day.

"Zabuza-san, these kids," Haku said slowly, "let me fight them my way."

"So you don't want me to interfere?" the dark-haired man asked, then snorted. "You're soft, as always."

"What do you mean, soft?" Sasuke yelled, pointing to his abused skin now sporting far too many neat slices.

It ticked him off that the kid was just playing with him.

"I have an idea," a voice by his ear said.

Sasuke jumped. "What are you doing in here?" he yelped, now facing Naruto.

"You attack from the inside, I attack from the outside," he said.

Sasuke paused, and then his grin returned. "I was thinking the same thing. You're a clone, right?"

Naruto smiled.

"I can attack outside as well as inside," Haku warned, reappearing in the mirrors. Outside, Sasuke could see Naruto dodging what looked like ice needles. So he wasn't using senbons? That meant the masked boy only had so many he could use; a limited supply. It would still probably be too many in Sasuke's opinion, but it was something he could keep an eye on.

He fixed his gaze on the figure that had addressed him. "Okay, that's the real one," he yelled to Naruto.

Then the masked child vanished. "Over here!" Sasuke heard the voice from behind him and whirled around, eyes wide. Haku threw more needles in his direction, and he only barely dodged.

"Fine, I'll attack these all at once," Sasuke said, forming the seals for his wind jutsu. A hurricane-grade wind whipped around the dome, but nothing broke. He cursed loudly. For the first time in his life, the Uchiha wished he'd inherited fire-based charka instead of wind.

Outside of the dome, Naruto clones were poofing out of existence at an alarming rate, and he hadn't seemed to be able to do more than approach the ice dome.

"Gah!" Sasuke yelled, thrown back as another barrage of needles swept over him.

"Saskue!" he thought he heard Naruto yell, and then the needles stopped. A shadow had fallen over him, and he glanced up to see black and blue topped with yellow hair.

"Naruto?" he asked, only to see Naruto drop to one knee, needles sprouting from his arms and legs. "W-what did you do that for? You're supposed to stay outside the dome!"

"Dunno," Naruto said with a shrug. "My body just moved on its own."

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at that. "Dobe," he said. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me," Naruto muttered. "I think I may have just cost us the battle."

"Indeed," Haku said. "Because of the mirror's reflections, you both seem like you're moving in slow motion.

"Becoming a true shinobi is difficult for me. If possible, I don't want to kill you. Nor do I want you to have to kill me, but if you continue to come at me, I will cut my kind heart and become a true shinobi. This bridge is the place where we fight to defend our dreams; me for my dream, and you for yours. Please don't hate me. I want to protect someone precious to me. To work for that person;to fight for that person; to make that person's dreams come true. This is my dream.

"For that, I can become a shinobi; I can kill you."

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Don't you lose to that boy!" Sasuke heard Sakura yell and felt his determination solidify inside him.

That didn't stop the next hailstorm of needles. They did manage to dodge most of them, although that may have been through sheer dumb luck and them refusing to stop moving.

"We're just running around," he heard Naruto mutter.

"Keep him going," he said back. "He's running out of charka. Can't you see he's already slowing?"

"No," the blond returned.

Sasuke repressed a sigh. "Just keep him going, and try to avoid—" he paused, trying to dodge a group of needles coming his way. "Try to avoid anything major getting hit!"

"Duh," Naruto said.

They continued to do their best to dodge, but eventually both of them collapsed when the barrage lulled again. Then he heard Sakura's scream and bit down on his tongue. The cold, emotionlessness came over him again as he forced himself to his feet. He was beginning to follow the movements. He could almost see them, almost predict them. The kid was skilled, but not experienced. He didn't vary his attacks, probably because he didn't see a need to. Because of that, Sasuke could almost dodge them now, he was so close…

Beside him, Naruto also tried to gain his feet again.

"You move well," Haku said to him. "But this time, I'll stop you."

He meant it too. Sasuke could hear it in his voice. They were going to die.

_NO!_ Sasuke clamped down on that thought. _Calm down, concentrate, and see through it…_

It almost felt as if someone else had whispered it into his head; like it was an after thought or a memory. It echoed through his mind in a voice that wasn't entirely his own, but it worked. Suddenly, he could see it.

He grabbed Naruto before the needles touched either one of them, moving them harmlessly to one side while Haku's image whirled to follow them, his entire body radiating surprise.

"Y-you are…" he stammered. "I see. So you are also from an advanced bloodline. Then I can't fight for much longer. My jutsu uses a lot of charka. There is a limit as to how long I can keep up this speed."

He said something else, but Sasuke didn't catch it because in moments, he came rushing out of the mirrors and directly at Naruto.

"N-Naruto!" Sasuke yelled and threw himself between the ninja, hoping beyond hope he'd make it in time.

xXx

Naruto ached all over. And stung. And bled. Yeah, this wasn't turning out to be a good day. He just wanted to sit there and rest for forever, but he'd been positive he'd just heard something from Sasuke.

Forcing himself to sit up and ignoring the needles that were shoved deeper into his body, he looked over and saw Haku laying there.

Naruto blinked. He'd done it! Somehow, Sasuke had managed to…

The blond looked up, congratulations dying on his lips when he saw a literal pin cushion standing in front of him. For once in his life, he didn't care about the expression of absolute horror that passed over his face.

"Heh, you don't usually look like that," Sasuke said. "It's not like I could help it. My body moved…on its own."

His knees gave out and he fell backwards, right into Naruto who could still only stare in shock. For all of his bravado, he'd taken solace in the fact that he did have a friend; he'd done so for years now. He'd deny it, but that didn't stop it from being true. For almost as long as he could remember, there had been two people who had always looked out for him: The Hokage, and Sasuke. Without even realizing it (and the Uchiha wouldn't care if he had known), Sasuke had given Naruto so many things, the greatest of which happened to be a smile practically every time they saw each other. Almost single handedly, the black-haired boy had driven the loneliness away and filled a void in Naruto's heart; a void that could only be filled by a friend, and later, a brother.

"Hey," Sasuke said, breaking through Naruto's racing thoughts. "I didn't want to die until I brought him back. Itachi, you know. Looks like I can't now. Could you apologize to him for me? Make sure you live so you can say that, alright…Dobe…"

The world around Naruto faded away. He vaguely heard Haku speaking in the background, but his brain couldn't seem to register the words. The voice sat there, pounding at his numb shock while he could only stare at Sasuke.

"Shut up," he finally managed to say—to growl really. "I won't forgive you. For killing my brother," he turned around ignoring the red haze that had settled over his vision, "_I'll kill you!_"

And he leapt forward with the intent to do just that.

0

* * *

_Let's try this again: If anyone is willing to beta read for me (again, sorry, it's been almost two years, I have no idea who I had beta reading this before), please let me know. I'm looking for someone who can get a chapter back to me within a WEEK, and someone who can be HARSH. I may not agree with what you say, but if you point it out to me, I will give it serious thought. I don't want something back with "oh, that looks good." No. Just no. My chapters are not perfect, so please send them back all marked up with red. Thank you._


	28. Jinchuuriki Chakra

Kyuubi did not know whether to be annoyed, amused or seriously ticked off. Annoyed at the situation in general and that it had taken so long for such a magnificent creature such as himself to figure it out; ticked off that he was now stuck with an Uchiha; amused at what was happening to the brats.

He'd figured it out. They (he, the blond brat and the Uchiha) were all under a jutsu. It wasn't a simple genjutsu, no this one was far more intricate. Somehow, it had erased all of their memories as best it could while still accessing those same memories to project the reality into the mind of the two ninja (and consequently, the Bijuu himself). It also shut down all connection to the real outside world so as to make the projected world itself more believable.

Over the years, he'd had a great deal of practice in sending his senses out so he could know what was happening in the outside world. Now that he'd figured it out, if he concentrated, he could literally feel the two different 'realities'. It was a particularly surreal sensation, even for him.

Now he could break the jutsu; overpower it or get the brat (the real Naruto) to do so as well, but seeing the Uchiha eat his words was far too entertaining. Besides, now that their minds were connected as they were, the Uchiha could access Kyuubi's power as well, which meant Kyuubi might be able to trick _him_ into releasing the seal. Then he could overpower the jutsu and destroy Konoha, Naruto, _and_ the last Uchiha all in one blow.

He smiled to himself. It was all a matter of how he played his cards.

Think of the devil, he felt the Uchiha begin to draw on his power. That would be the jutsu leading him on as well as his new set of memories taking effect. Who knew humans could come up with something so interesting?

Kyuubi's grin widened.

Amused. He was definitely leaning towards amused.

xXx

Haku was no stranger to fear. His sense of self-preservation had changed over the years, but the fear had remained; different, but there. It wasn't an overwhelming sensation, but more along the lines of something he'd grown used to; it was useful even. Yes, fear was a tool to motivate oneself to become better. Actually, fear had been his reason for accessing his bloodline limit. It had just been a simple, tiny animal that had jumped at him from a tree one day, probably in some panic, and latched onto his hair. He didn't remember much other than screaming and running around the forest in a blind panic. Then the snow had responded.

That little fear seemed so pathetic to him in the years to come. Just months later, when his father approached him, ready to kill, that fear had changed, growing and soaring to new heights. His previous, childish fears had been nothing compared to that. Then came the fear of freezing or starving to death; just another useless orphan wandering around a war-ravaged land.

He'd almost given into it then, until Zabuza-sama, the Demon of the Mist, had pulled him out of it. In the years to come, it changed again. Eventually he grew to a point where he had no fear for himself; instead, it was for the one person closest to him. His fear that he would not be useful when Zabuza-sama needed him always haunted the back of his mind, pushing him harder; to learn more; to do better.

He'd thought that had been the final form of his fear, but now, as he watched the red, heavy and oppressing chakra wash over him, he realized he'd been horribly wrong.

For several seconds, his body would not move as the killing intent skyrocketed.

'_W-What is this chakra?'_ he asked himself as he tried desperately to coax his body into calming down. His efforts did little good. Every instinct inside of him screamed at him to run—to get away as fast as he could by any means possible, but he couldn't. He could only stand there in a frozen terror.

Then the needles buried into the kid's back and limbs flew away from him, as if they'd been shot from something instead of deeply imbedded in a body just moments before. If anyone had been standing near him, they would have been skewered themselves.

The red chakra seemed to form into a mass of _something_ above the boy. It took a moment for Haku to recognize it as an animal of some sort, with eyes and teeth and such a hungry expression... The sight unwittingly sent shivers through his spine.

'_It's impossible for chakra to change like this!'_ Haku thought to himself, unable to tear his eyes off of the boy. _And such evil chakra… _Even Zabuza-sama on his worst days couldn't touch this hatred. How could this come from a child?

And then he noticed the hands. Skin sliced and cut from dozens of brushing needles started to smoke and heal.

'_What is this boy?' _Haku asked in his mind. He was able to move now, but decided against anything sudden. He didn't want to provoke this kid any more than he already had.

Haku had never felt anything of this sort before. It invoked a primal fear that he was sure couldn't possibly be surpassed.

Yet again, he'd been wrong, though. This was proven when the kid looked over his shoulder at Haku. Where before those irises had been a deep, onyx black, he now saw only red. The slitted eye found and focused on him, and Haku's terror multiplied by about three, and continued to grow as the dark-clad figure turned completely and faced him.

'_Here he comes,'_ Haku thought, falling further into his defensive stance. His mirrors should allow him to keep the boy at bay, if the Ex-Mist-Nin could keep it up. He could already feel the drain on his chakra reserves.

Then the kid jumped. His speed had improved immensely, and Haku couldn't help but be impressed—worried even—as he threw senbons at the attacker before shifting to a different mirror.

'_He's totally different from before!' _he found himself thinking. Then his eyes widened in surprise when the needles stopped as if they'd hit a barrier and flipped away, not even coming close to touching him. '_With just chakra?'_ Haku asked himself, disbelieving.

He dove at the kid. No, he wouldn't be transferring to a mirror. So the ground stopping him would prove an issue if he didn't land a killing blow, but he was willing to take the risk to stop this new menace.

The kid sensed him somehow and quite literally spun away through the air, landing mere seconds later and completely dodging the attack. Haku knew he had to get to the mirrors again, almost desperate now that his gamble had failed. He made a mad dash, but the kid grabbed him before he could take more than a few steps. Then he found himself pulled around through the air while the arm being held by the boy practically burned from the touch.

Haku tried to regain his feet and his senses, but the boy—no, the monster the boy had become—released a wave of chakra that Haku couldn't block, let alone push back. It hurt him to even try.

"Ow," he hissed as they came to a momentary stop.

The boy's hand clenched down even harder. At least it had stopped burning once the chakra expulsion had dissipated, but Haku knew this had not ended. He tried to pull away, but failed miserably as one very fast punch after another connected with his masked face. The world became a blur of pain and a strange buzzing started to sound in his ears.

Then, finally, the kid let go and Haku felt himself flying _through_ the supposedly unbreakable ice of one of his own mirrors. He flew for what felt like forever, but he was somehow able to get ahold of himself enough to weakly flip and land unsteadily on his feet, though it was a struggle to stand up.

He felt his mask start to crumble away from his face, but it was all he could do to remain standing. The boy came rushing at him, and Haku felt what was left of his heart crumble away with the mask.

'_Zabuza-sama,' _he thought sadly. '_I cannot defeat this boy. I am…I am…'_

And the monster came.

xXx

_Current Day, Konoha_

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune burst through the door of the Hokage's office. Tsunade had already stood behind her desk in anticipation.

"What is it?"

"It's Naruto! Somehow the seal has weakened and Kyuubi is forcing its way out!"

And that quickly, Shizuene realized she continued to address empty space. Knowing her friend and teacher was already on her way, she whirled around and shot down to the hospital again, hoping Sakura had managed to get Naruto under control. She'd already called for Yamato-san, and hoped by the time she got back that he would be there, trying to suppress the Kyuubi before it destroyed Konoha again.

xXx

_Current Day, Orochimaru's Base_

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said as calmly as he could into their communications device. He never took his eyes off of Sasuke, who had three large stripes that resembled whiskers growing on the side of each cheek. The teenager also seemed to be in a great deal of pain, with his back arched and fists clenched tight. From his position at the far edge of the room, Kabuto could also see Sasuke's bared teeth had elongated into fangs of a sort and he'd be willing to bet from the feel of this chakra that instead of sharingan, his eyes were slitted and red.

It shouldn't be happening, but it was. Somehow, just as the brat Naruto had done not two weeks before, Sasuke was channeling the nine-tail's chakra.

"What is it, Kabuto?"

The white-haired young man blinked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity as he continued to watch. "There's been a development…"

xXx

He didn't know what had come over him, and he didn't care. Actually, to be truthful, he liked this feeling of power, or he would when he looked back on it later. At the moment, very little went through his mind.

Suddenly his reflexes had increased and he could keep up with the other child and his mirrors. He wanted to pound that stupid masked head until the stuffing came out. He wanted to bash and tear and rip to his heart's content.

So he did.

He threw punch after satisfying punch at the other kid, sometimes bending the masked figure backwards almost to a point where he would have made a crater in the stone and cement of the bridge if Naruto had released the other's arm. As it was, there had been a rather loud pop that came from the boy's shoulder after about two punches. That couldn't feel good, but then again, that was the point. He didn't let go.

Several hits later, he finally decided to release his opponent and the masked figure went flying, but he wouldn't get away from Naruto so easily. _Oh no_, the blond thought, _I'm not done yet_!

Somehow the kid was able to remain on his feet, and as he stood there the mask protecting his face fell. At first, Naruto felt a touch of satisfaction that his next beating would not meet any resistance. Then he saw the familiar features.

Two days before, when Sasuke had insisted they train all night, they had fallen asleep outside and awoken to see a harmless girl gathering plants. Then the girl had spouted something about protecting one's precious people. Then 'she' turned out to be a 'he', surprising both of the Konoha-nin and the whole thing had gone into one of those 'don't ask, don't tell' categories in Naruto's mind.

To see that boy's face under the mask was a shock.

It didn't stop him from pounding the kid into the stone of the bridge with yet another attack. It didn't matter who he was! He'd taken someone very important to Naruto away, and he would pay for it. The Jinchuuriki knew he'd broken the kid's nose with his punch (probably crushed it), but it barely registered. Power still coursed through him, still urged him to draw more so he could beat this brat before him into oblivion.

He raced forward to do just that. The kid had started to get up again, moving slowly…painfully. Naruto drew back to deliver a swipe that would tear through—

_Sasuke! No!_

Naruto couldn't quite stop his hand from slapping across the other kid's face, but the voice he'd heard had startled him out of whatever trance he'd fallen into. Even he could tell the blow didn't have the same power it had had just seconds before.

It was disappointing in more ways than one, but Naruto's confusion overtook all other emotions. He couldn't figure it out. That voice had sounded like Sasuke, and somehow Naruto knew that the voice had been speaking to him, but it had called him Sasuke…and that didn't make sense. They didn't even look alike. He glanced around, but he couldn't see Sasuke's body through the mist. It had thinned out a great deal, but not enough to see more than several feet in either direction, and they'd moved away from Sasuke.

Then it clicked in his mind. That had sounded like Sasuke! Not daring to hope, Naruto sprinted back towards his prone teammate. He didn't have to go too far before he could make out the yellow and orange just a few feet in front of him. Sasuke hadn't moved, and even from this distance the blond could tell there was no life left in the body at all.

Instead of making him angry again, it just depressed him. Dejectedly, he started back towards his opponent. The other kid had barely regained his unsteady feet when the blond saw him again. As soon as he came into view, the boy looked up.

"What happened to your intensity?" he asked, words barely understandable due to the broken nose. "You can't kill me with that. Will you make the mistake of letting your enemy live out of pity? Can you under—"

"Shut up!" Naruto bellowed, rushing forward and sending another fist into his face.

Apparently, the boy didn't know when to stay down, because almost immediately he forced himself to sit up again, and somehow he shakily gained his feet before turning and smiling at Naruto. It almost hurt to watch. Almost.

"Can you understand not being wanted—needed by anyone? Not having a dream? Zabuza-sama has no need for a weak shinobi. You have taken away my reason for existing. Please, kill me."

Naruto stared at the smile on the boy's face for several seconds, then he stuffed his hands into his pockets, mainly to keep them from clenching and lashing out again. He'd come down off of whatever high he'd been on, and he could start to think clearly again, although he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"You misunderstand," he said, voice harsh but quiet. "I won't kill you, but it isn't out of pity. There are worse things than death, and for you, this is one of them. If you want to die, play samurai and take your own life. I'm not going to do it for you. Besides," he glanced back towards where he knew his friend lay still. "He wouldn't want me to. Not in his name."

Why did that statement feel so _wrong_ and so _right_ at the same time? Like it went against every fiber of his being? He wanted to hurt the formerly masked ninja in front of him…badly.

Then, for just a second, an image flashed though his mind. He caught a glimpse of a tall man with dark hair and red eyes who reminded him of Sasuke…but without emotion. The very thought was so impossible it bordered on shocking. Is that what Sasuke would have become maybe?

It lasted only a second and then the image was gone, leaving him with only an impression. Actually, he couldn't even remember what the guy had really looked like, only that it had been a man. The image had invoked such a strange conflict inside of him as well; respect and loathing; anger and love; peace and pain; but above all else, a sort of obsessive need to eliminate the conflict that man created.

For a moment, Naruto tried to get the image back, but it slipped out of his grasp like water through his fingers. It felt like something from another life.

"You would have me live without a reason?" The ninja asked, not bothering to stem the blood leaking from his misshapen nose.

Naruto looked back at the boy, returning his thought process to the here and now. The strange vision-like thing had the side effect of calming him down even more. The kid before him brought up conflicting feelings, but nothing like the nameless, faceless man's had, and most definitely not like Sasuke himself did. Then Naruto shrugged and turned to walk back to his fallen comrade. "No reason to live, huh? Join the club."

xXx

Haku stood there staring for several moments. This child…had Haku taken away his reason to live too? If that were the case, this boy had a very dangerous sense of vengeance.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the blond boy asked without turning around. "Take your weapons back out. Weren't you going to kill yourself? Didn't you say that your master had no need for your weakness?"

Haku blinked again, then smiled sadly. "You are a very cruel person, ninja-san." They never had been introduced, the ex-mist nin realized suddenly. The black-haired boy had given his name out, but the blond hadn't, even when they'd met in the forest.

"Like you're one to talk," the blond muttered.

Slowly, Haku reached into his pouch and pulled out the few remaining senbons he had left and stared down at them. All it would take was one little slice to his neck or wrist and it would all be over. He could stop being an embarrassment to Zabuza-sama and not have to live with the pain of knowing he was dragging his most important person down.

But he couldn't do it. Why couldn't he? He didn't want to face his important person like this, but something told him he would yet be needed. He sat there for several seconds, staring at the silver object as the blue and black clothed boy continued to shuffle back to his friend.

Then he realized that the mist had almost vanished and immediately felt for Zabuza-sama's chakra. It was dangerously low and completely stationary. It rang too many warning bells in his mind. And what was that noise? Like hundreds of birds chirping all at once? It could only be a jutsu, probably one that took a while to execute judging from how long he'd been able to hear it.

Haku's blood ran cold. It wasn't one of Zabuza-sama's jutsus, which could only mean the other ninja had caught him somehow!

"It seems I can't die yet," he said as he made the hand-seal and jumped into the mirror that appeared next to him.

The last thing he saw was the lightning-clad fist coming towards him, and a pair of miss-matched, startled eyes.

"Z-zabuza-sama…" he managed before the world went dark. At least he'd been useful one last time.

xXx

For someone who supposedly didn't have a reason to live, the boy sure looked determined. When Naruto had heard the boy speak, he had whipped around just in time to catch that expression for just a second before the previously masked boy disappeared into his mirror.

So Naruto had been right. He'd suspected the boy's 'story' had been a ruse. He glanced around warily, straining to see through the still dense fog as he searched for the other mirror. He heard something that sounded suspiciously wet and hard at the same time and took off in that direction. He'd lost one teammate today, he was not about to lose another, no matter how annoying they might be.

The sight that met his eyes through the thinning fog stopped him short. Kakashi-sensei stood with a horribly surprised expression on his face staring up at the formerly masked ninja. His arm had quite literally skewered the boy.

"Hm," Zabuza said as he reached for his sword. Even through the bandages that masked his lower face, Naruto could see the grin. "Good job, Haku." Kakashi couldn't move quickly or well with his arm stuck like that, and it would take too long to un-stick it. Naruto saw as if in slow motion when Zabuza hefted his sword, ignoring his wounds, and dove at Kakashi, yelling, "I sure picked up something useful! Giving me this final chance!"

Naruto, who had been staring in rather blank shock, felt something snap inside of him. A cold mask settled over his face and he moved to rush forward and into the fray. Before he could take a single step though, Kakashi leapt into the air, taking the boy with him, and set down a good ways back.

"Heh, even with Haku dead, you can move," Zabuza muttered. He seemed to have his own share of nasty cuts and gashes, as he too was covered with blood. That had to be the only reason he hadn't come after Kakashi, because if he had, Naruto had little doubt his sensei would have been hard pressed to stay alive.

The silver-haired jounin glared up at the man as he withdrew his arm from the boy's chest. Then, in a show of respect, he closed Haku's eyes. Naruto appreciated the gesture more than he would care to admit.

"Naruto, stay there. This is my fight," Kakashi said. It was no longer a teacher protecting his student, but a fighter trying to uphold his own honor and finish the fight he started.

The blond didn't respond. Kakashi didn't so much as glance back over at him as he stood, but before he could move to continue the battle, Sakura called out, relief rushing through her voice.

"Naruto-kun! You're alive!" Naruto's stomach began to do chakra-enhanced flips. _He_ was alive…. Not noticing his discomfort, Sakura continued in relief. "I'm so glad! When you came to help Sasuke, I was so worried…uh, seeing as you're my teammate and all, I mean." With that she looked around. "So, where is Sasuke-kun?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. He was willing to bet she'd liked Sasuke at one point, even if she'd only been acting that she still did for a while now. He'd come to the conclusion that it was a girl thing. But, even if she didn't like Sasuke like that, she was just like Naruto in the fact that she'd never had a comrade or close friend die before. This news would not be easy on her.

"N-naruto-kun?" she asked at his silence. He still didn't say anything and her face paled several shades. "Oh…Naruto…." the young ninja whispered, hand going to her mouth.

"Kakashi! This is no time for sight seeing!" Zabuza yelled, rushing at the Konoha-nin. And that quickly, their battle started up again.

Naruto tried to keep one eye on them and one eye on Sakura. Tazuna laid a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to go see him, I'll go with you. That way you won't break your Sensei's orders."

Sakura glanced between the older man and Naruto a few times before nodding her head and hurrying past him…and all he could do was stand there like the failure he was.

xXx

Sakura hadn't ever really cared for Sasuke like the other girls did. That didn't mean she didn't care for him at all. He was a teammate, and he'd always had a smile on his face. She could appreciate that.

What got to her the most, though, was the expression on Naruto's face. If Sasuke had…died (it was even hard to think about it like that), what would happen to the blond? She'd never seen him get along with anyone else. How would he handle this?

By his reaction, not too well.

And what would Ino think? Ino had really liked Sasuke, even if it was a crush, and despite all, the blond girl had still been her best friend once.

No, Sasuke couldn't be dead! He just couldn't be…. She had to see it for herself, so when Tazuna-san offered to go with her, she took the opportunity. She knew she should keep her mind on the mission, and if she just ran around dragging Tazuna-san behind her that it would make for an easier target, but she had to see.

She glanced at Naruto as she ran past. He didn't look up at her or Tazuna-san at all.

Then she saw the body on the ground. Even though the mist had thinned a great deal and Sasuke had been wearing orange and yellow, she still couldn't see him until they'd practically stumbled over him. She stopped short, and beside her, Tazuna-san froze as well.

"S-sasuke…" she said slowly. "Sasuke, get up. Come on, you can't just leave us here, so stop joking around." Her knees felt weak suddenly and she sank to the ground. Her hand reached out and grabbed his hand and she gasped.

"He's cold…this isn't an illusion…" No! This wasn't supposed to be how it happened! They were supposed to be a team! Her and Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun! Besides, Sasuke-kun had been the best of all of them! Loud and obnoxious at times, but still the best. And she'd only seen him minutes ago! He'd been alive and fine, fighting hard for their mission…and….

"Don't mind me," Tazuna-san said. "Best to just let yourself cry it out."

She shook her head. No tears would come. Besides, "I scored a hundred percent on all of my tests," she said softly. "I always wrote down the right answers and always got the best scores. Do you know what Shinobi saying #25 says? 'No matter what the situation, a shinobi must keep their emotions on the inside. You must make the mission a top priority and possess a heart that never shows tears.'"

The man standing beside her blinked in surprise. "Th-that's too harsh," he said.

"It's the way it is," she responded, unable to raise her voice anymore. "There are reasons for it, and we knew that. All of us."

"But—" Tazuna-san started, but cut off when a new voice cut above the fighting. That's when Sakura realized that the sounds of the jounin's battle had stopped.

"You're losing that badly, Zabuza?"

Sakura whirled around. Past Naruto stood their sensei and his opponent. All three of them had turned their attention to the large group of men that had assembled just a little ways further down. At their head stood a man with a black suit and dark sunglasses. He had an air of snobbery about him that seemed almost slimy to her.

"Gaitou," Zabuza growled out. "What are you doing here? And what's with all these men?"

The smaller man chuckled. "The plan has changed. Well, not really. I planned to do this to you all along. Your prices are too expensive, so I'm going to have all of you killed here. That's why I like hiring missing nins. They're so easy to take care of afterwards. Especially a joke like you. Demon of the Hidden Mist?" He scoffed. "We can take care of you easily now that you've all been fighting each other. Good plan, don't you think?"

"T-Tazuna-san," Sakura said softly as she stood, not noticing the single tear that dripped down her cheek as she did so. She did, however, do a quick head count. More than thirty men against her, Naruto and Kakashi, and with the shape Kakashi and Naruto were in on top of the fact that Zabuza hadn't been killed yet…well, the odds weren't exactly stacked in their favor. "Stay behind me."

Nodding, he did so, careful to avoid Sasuke's body as he moved. She steeled herself for the upcoming battle. Sasuke-kun may have died, but she wasn't dead yet. And if she had to die to help fulfill their mission, than so be it.

So she took a stance, and prepared for what may very well be her last battle as a Kunoichi of Kanoha.

* * *

Alright, guys, I've finally started this up again, I got over 300 people reading my last chapter and I got maybe 5 reviews in the first week. Any reviews in and above that have read the whole story since then. It means people are reading and not really posting. Well, I can understand that, but I will also tell you that posting helps motivate me. I'm also working on another story right now, so updates aren't going to be often or even guaranteed.

It does help to know how you think I'm doing. If there's something you don't like or don't understand, let me know. I'll either explain it to you or I'll let you know if it's in an upcoming story. Besides, I read ALL of my reviews. I may not be able to answer them all, but I do try.

So please, let me know what you think. Thanks.

Oh and thanks to Telemicus Sundance for beta reading this. :)


	29. Potential Complications

_IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!  
_

_Current Day Konoha, Naruto Age 16_

By the time Tsunade reached Naruto's room, the 'crisis' had passed…thankfully. She rushed through the doorway just in time to see Yamato practically collapse in a chair as his wood jutsu retreated from Naruto's bare chest and the necklace the Fifth Hokage had given him. A pale-faced Sakura held the railings on the bed as if her knees wanted to give out on her as well.

"What happened?" the blond asked, hoping she didn't sound too tired. She always showed more exhaustion when she felt relieved.

"We don't know," Sakura whispered. "I was just checking up on him with Shizune-san when he we felt the Kyuubi's chakra. We called for Yamato-sensei immediately and Shizune-san went to get you personally.

"The…er, episode," she said the word hesitantly, probably for lack of something better but it got the point across so Tsunade nodded slightly to show she understood as Sakura continued, "lasted for almost four minutes."

Yamoto interjected quietly from his chair. "I've been keeping track of Naruto-kun ever since I was assigned their team, as instructed. I got here as quickly as I could, Hokage-sama. Fortunately, I was close when I got word. I tried to stop him from using the chakra, but it felt…different than usual."

Tsunade's stomach clenched at that. The last thing they needed were problems with the Kyuubi on top of Naruto's current situation. "Different? How?"

Yamato thought for several seconds, obviously trying to put what he'd experienced into words. "I felt as if I were only stopping an overflow…like all of the chakra had been redirected before it even got to Naruto and consequently me. I can't stop what I can't block. I don't even know where to start trying to intercept the Kyuubi's influence."

If it were possible, Sakura's face had paled even more (and if Tsunade were honest with herself, she'd admit that hers had as well).

"Sensei…" Sakura whispered. "Redirected..."

Tsunade nodded, trying not to look too troubled (and the fatigue wasn't helping, but she squashed it relentlessly). "Yes," she said. "It is most likely that somehow, Sasuke can draw on the Nine-tail's powers."

Yamato glanced between the two of them, eyes widening. "What?"

The Fifth Hokage sighed. "Come to my office and I will brief you on the situation. I would have done so earlier, but you only just returned from your most recent mission."

The jounin blinked. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade blinked. She had explained herself, hadn't she. She really needed to stop subconsciously trying to break her record of hours without sleep. With a small sigh she waved her hand dismissively. "He was apart of your team too. You have a right to know."

He paused, but smiled at her. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

The older woman returned the nod and then glanced over at her student. "Sakura, keep an eye on him. I'll relieve you of your other duties for the day."

"H-hai, Hokage-sama," Sakura replied as Tsunade left the room, followed by Yamato and leaving a very worried Sakura next to a prone and silent Naruto behind them.

xXx

_Land of the Waves, Naruto Age 13_

Naruto did not like what he saw. With the condition of the ninja on their team…well, only Sakura would be up to full strength. Naruto still had enough chakra to pull out a good amount of kage bushins, but whatever the heck he'd just done had taken a lot out of him. His whole body felt like it was recovering from…well, he didn't quite know how to describe it. A massive chakra overload maybe? He'd pushed himself somehow, and although it had managed to heal the cuts on his arms, it felt as if he'd physically paid a price somewhere else, and knew he'd have to answer to that price soon.

There were too many variables in the entire situation. Kakashi could easily take care of all of Gato's men when at full strength, but what about now? And what about Zabuza?

As if in answer to his question, the missing nin addressed Kakashi-sensei.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but this fight is over. Now that I have no reason to go after Tazuna-san, I have no reason to fight you."

"Ah," Kakashi said in agreement. "You're right."

Naruto breathed a silent sigh of relief. Well, that was one problem solved.

So now they could all face these men together…or at least without Zabuza getting in their way. That upped their odds greatly.

Just as Naruto thought this, he realized that Gato had moved forward towards the boy's (Zabuza had called him Haku, right?) body.

"Oh yeah," the crime leader said with a cruel grin. "I owe this one. He squeezed my arm until it broke. Now look at him!" He kicked Haku's face hard. "He's dead!"

Naruto frowned. Okay, so he'd been about to beat the kid to a bloody pulp not five minutes previously, but that didn't mean he liked the idea of desecrating someone's body. Besides, something about this man really, _really_ rubbed Naruto wrong.

It also bothered him that Zabuza didn't say anything.

"Hey," he said aloud, "you." Everyone looked over at him except for Zabuza. Naruto continued anyway. "Aren't you going to say something? He was your subordinate."

"Shut up, kid," the missing nin muttered. "Haku's already dead, so what does it matter?" Naruto's frown deepened, but he said nothing. Apparently Zabuza felt the need to clarify because he continued. "As I was used by Gato, I used Haku. That's all it was.

"I've said it already. In the world of shinobi there are only those that use and those that are used. We are simply tools. What I wanted was his blood, not him. I have no regrets."

Naruto felt his teeth grind for some reason. Why did this bother him so much?

Was it because something about the missing nin's tone seemed forced? He didn't want to leave it like that, but he didn't really know what to say, and he wasn't about to go babbling until he got a semblance of something out. He wasn't like Sasuke. He didn't care for words.

After a few moments contemplation, he figured it didn't really matter. It wasn't something he could change, no matter what he felt about it. "Then you deserve to be used," he said darkly and he left it at that.

"Heh," Zabuza said. Then, after a few moments of silence, he glanced at his former opponent. "Kakashi, let me borrow your kunai."

Naruto expected a deflection or refusal. Something like, "You have your own kunai, don't you?" He found himself rather surprised when his jounin-sensei complied.

"I expect that back."

Zabuza didn't answer, mainly because he'd caught the kunai in his mouth as his arms had been rendered useless by Kakashi earlier. Then he'd disappeared, sprinting forward towards the group facing them. Gato, seeing him coming, started yelling out as he ran back to the crowd and hid behind them. "Kill them! Kill him!"

"Sure thing!" One of them yelled.

"You think you can win?" Another spoke from the back somewhere, addressing Zabuza.

"One badly injured ninja against all of us?"

Naruto could only watch blankly (and a little in awe) as the Demon of the Mist reached the gathering of men and proceeded to tear his way through them. The blond couldn't understand. Why was the missing nin doing this? He may have been able to take down everyone in his path, but the men he couldn't reach with Kakshi-sensei's weapon would easily have openings to get hits in. Naruto knew the older man knew this, but Zabuza didn't stop. Just as Naruto had predicted, by the time the dark-haired man reached Gato, he looked something like a pin cushion.

Gato yelled out something about Zabuza being a failure and a pathetic ninja. He cut off only seconds later when the Demon of the Mist sliced off his head. "No one stabs me in the back and gets away with it!" he yelled around the kunai still in his mouth.

Then, much to Naruto's surprise, the missing nin turned and glanced at Haku, one tear rolling down his cheek.

He stood there for several seconds before the blood loss got to him and he collapsed.

"So he really did care in the end," Kakashi said quietly. "Remember this day, Naruto. This is a day when a man who lived a hard life died."

"Mm," Naruto hummed in agreement, unwilling to let his eyes waver from the dying figure.

The men Gato had brought had fallen into a disorganized confusion now, but Naruto knew they could still be a threat, if not to them then to the village. Normally he wouldn't care to stop them as the mission didn't require the safety of the village, but the ninja and Tazuna-san stood between the group of thugs and the entire Land of the Wave. If they attacked now—

"Naruto-kun!" He blinked when he heard a rather giddy Sakura call out to him. "Naruto-kun! Look!"

The mist had almost completely disappeared by then, and as he turned around he had no problem finding his pink-haired teammate sitting next to…

His train of thought faded off and he felt his mouth drop open ever so slightly in shock. He didn't care how undignified it looked. "S-sasuke?" he asked in disbelief.

The dark-haired boy muttered something unintelligible and tried to wave his hand dismissively, although it came off as more of a weak flop.

"Remember the death-like state that boy put Zabuza in?" Kakashi asked, infuriatingly calm about the whole situation (of course).

The blond blinked. Oh.

_Oh_.

Naruto stood there for several seconds as his mind tried to process the realization. He'd been so ready to accept that he would now have to try to get through life on his own again that he didn't know quite what to think. Part of him wanted to walk over there and beat the living daylights out of the baka for scaring him like that. Part of him just wanted to curl into a ball and cry out everything he felt inside; all of his pain, anger, relief, happiness, joy, sadness…it was all there. He wasn't even sure he knew how he could identify half of the emotions let alone feel them all at once.

"Sasuke," was all he could manage to say again as he felt his knees give out on him in an extremely undignified manner. Fortunately he still managed to lower himself to the ground at a fairly controlled pace.

Then, after a moment, he yelled. "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again, you idiot!"

Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna all stared at him in surprise. He wasn't exactly known for outbursts like that, but at the moment he was so relieved, he didn't care.

After a moment, Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but one of the thugs from Gato's group cut him off.

"Oi!" the raggad-looking, nameless man yelled, drawing their attention. "You're far too at ease! How dare you? You took away our meal ticket!"

"So now we'll take it out of your hides!" Someone else yelled, followed by even more yelling from random thugs.

"You stupid ninja!"

"You guys are dead!"

"Then we'll pillage this city!"

"Let's get 'em!"

And with that, they all swarmed forward.

"This is bad," Kakashi said, shooting to his feet and sliding into a defensive position. Naruto didn't say anything. Instead, he stood quickly and brought his hand into the familiar seal.

"Kage—" he started, but never got to finish as a spear landed between him and the oncoming hoard, stopping the hired men in their tracks.

Which made no sense. Why would they stop unless…the ninja turned around to face a crowd of villagers that had gathered on the bridge, one familiar small figure tentatively leading the way.

The Genin and Tazuna's eyes widened in surprise and they all voiced the name at the same time. "I-Inari?"

xXx

After that, things cleaned up rather quickly. Between the villagers, Naruto's Kage-bushins and Kakashi's own bushins, they were able to scare the hired thugs off. The villagers had celebrated rather hard for several nights after that, and Kakashi had enlisted his Genins' help to bury the two ninja that had died.

During their remaining time there, Sasuke came to be pretty good friends with Inari. Apparently Kakashi had spoken to him the night before, and when Naruto had saved him and his mother from dying earlier that day, he'd decided he'd had enough running and crying.

Naruto didn't seem to care much about 'the brat' at all, but he also didn't feel the need to leave whenever he came into the room anymore. It was an improvement, so no one saw a point in bringing it up.

It took them a few more weeks for Tazuna-san to finish the bridge, and a few more days after construction had officially concluded before the ninja found themselves ready to be on their way with their mission accomplished. Sasuke looked as if he wanted to cry, but refused to, and Inari acted like he felt the same way. Even Naruto seemed more down than usual at the parting—not that he'd ever admit it.

As Tazuna, his family and a few of the villagers watched them leave, Tazuna shook his head with a smile.

"Those ninja really are something, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they changed our lives," one of the villagers said softly.

"Especially Inari's," the old bridge builder agreed. Then something occurred to him. "Hey, we still need to name the bridge. How about 'The Great Naruto and Sasuke Bridge'?"

"Hmm," one of the other villagers mused. "I like it."

"That's a good name," the first one agreed.

"In hopes that this bridge will never crumble," Tazuna grinned, admiring his work once again. "It will be a symbol that will become known throughout the world."

"Yeah," the others agreed. Inari didn't say a word, only continuing to pretend he wasn't crying as the figures of the Konoha ninjas disappeared into the horizon.

xXx

Sasuke wouldn't admit it, but he really wanted to get back to Konoha. He'd enjoyed the trip (despite the rather painful and near-death experiences), but the Hidden Village of the Leaf would always be his home; the place where his family had chosen to live and the place where he could remember them and his brother the best.

It would always be the place where he belonged.

It had been almost a week since they'd left the Wave Country, and he couldn't help but bounce excitedly on the balls of his feet in anticipation as he walked, trying not to leave his team too far behind. Kakashi had said that today they would make it home and he couldn't wait.

Naruto on the other hand seemed even more brooding than usual. Sasuke didn't quite understand, but he got the distinct impression that the blond most certainly did _not_ want to get back. He wanted to do something to get Naruto as excited as he felt, but nothing came to mind. Besides why wouldn't anyone want to go home? Did he already miss the people in the Land of the Waves that much?

Sasuke smiled. He couldn't fault the blond for that. His best friend was such a good guy. He resolved that he would have to take Naruto out for Raman when they reached Konoha.

"Alright," Kakashi-sensei said from behind his little, orange book. "We should catch sight of the Kage Monument just over the next hill."

Grinning, Sasuke threw what little reservation he had to the wind and sprinted up to the rise in the forest path. Surely enough, in the distance he could barely make out the four faces that graced the cliff overlooking his village.

For several seconds, he closed his eyes and just reveled in the fact that they were in Konoha territory; that they were home. A large grin settled over his face as he set off, sprinting down the path.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled after him, trying to keep the annoyance from her voice. The black-haired boy ignored her.

"Let him go," Kakashi said. "It takes a special soul to enjoy coming home to a village that sends you out to potentially die on a regular basis."

Sakura pouted a bit, but didn't say anything else. Behind them, Naruto frowned.

xXx

_Current Day Konoha, Naruto age 16_

Yamoto put the file concerning Naruto down on the desk and sat back in his chair. Any normal person would have run a hand through their hair or let out a low whistle. The dark-haired ANBU simply stared at the file.

"So from what you can gather, Sasuke and Naruto now have some sort of mind-link, which by the way shouldn't be possible," neither one of them voiced the 'but then again, Naruto is involved' that they both knew was tacked onto the end of that sentence. "And so they are for all intents and purposes trapped in—for lack of better terminology—their own world."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. "You could put it like that."

"So the jutsu uses only their memories to create this 'world' and any differences from the real world would probably be taken from projections and theories from their minds, not necessarily from reality?"

"That's just a theory," Tsunade said slowly. "Jiraiya, Kakashi and I have been discussing the possibilities of how the jutsu works, and that is the most likely scenario of those we have come up with."

"What are other theories you've come up with, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

The blond shrugged. "That the jutsu plays through their memories while Naruto and Sasuke watch from the other person's point of view. We don't know if they know the reality of their situation, but I would venture that they don't. We don't know if they are currently watching or processing the events as they happened or if they're actually living through the other's life experiences and making their own decisions based on the circumstances. The information we have on the jutsu is sketchy at best."

Yamoto shook his head. "I see how confusing this has been for you."

Tsunade let out a sigh and sat back in her own chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she hummed in agreement. Then she put her elbows on the arms of the chair and interlaced her fingers under her nose as her gaze wandered back to the manila folder.

"We believe they are actually 'living' the events in their minds from the readings we've been getting from his brain. I'll skip the medical terminology, but it's like his head is telling him to move, but the signals aren't translating to his body. We're pretty sure it's only the jutsu that's blocking those signals, thank goodness, but we're still not a hundred percent sure how the seal is doing it. Jiraiya, Kakashi and Sai have been taking turns looking at and theorizing about the seal and its patterns. If you would like, you are more than welcome to join them."

Yamoto shook his head with small, precise movements. "No, thank you, Hokage-sama. Fuinjutsu has never been my strong point. But if you need help anywhere else…"

Tsunade nodded and sat forward again. "I will let you know. You were scheduled a few days off, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm afraid I may have to cut your down-time short and put you on watch at the hospital. You may not be able to do a lot when it comes to Kyuubi's chakra, but anything is better than nothing at this point."

"Of course, ma'am," Yamoto bowed slightly. "I will go prepare."

"Dismissed."

The dark-haired man turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Tsunade-sama," he said slowly, "is it safe to assume that Sasuke is in a similar state as Naruto?"

The blond blinked. "Yes. That is what all the information we have indicates."

"Then Sasuke was channeling Kyuubi's chakra just now?"

"Yes, I believe so," Tsunade said slowly, wondering where Yamoto was going with this.

"What do you think Orochimaru's reaction will be?"

Tsunade stared at Yamoto for several seconds before her eyes widened and her face paled. "You're recommending a guard?"

"Yes, ma'am. I doubt they'll be able to stand up to Orochimaru if he decides to come after Naruto, but if you assign double the regular guard, it might be enough to hold him off until you or Jiraiya-sama can get there."

"You bring up a good point. I will assign at least two ANBU teams to assist in guarding Naruto."

"Thank you, ma'am," Yamoto said with another bow. Then he paused.

"Is there something else?" Tsunade asked. Yamoto nodded, looking somewhat nervous. She got the distinct impression that if he had bee anything but a trained Jounin that he would have shuffled his feet nervously.

"Do you think Orochimaru will come?"

Tsunade's eyes locked on the envelope again. "I can hope," she said softly. "And there is a possibility he won't. I doubt I would have thought about it in my current state if you hadn't brought it up…but now that you do mention it, I don't see how he won't at least be curious."

It wasn't a definitive answer, but it seemed to satisfy the Jounin.

As he turned to walk out the doorway again, she called after him. "If you see Jiraiya, please inform him that I wish to speak with him."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Yamoto said respectfully as he shut the door behind him.

xXx

Alright, so first I'm going to thank people for the reviews because this time I got a bunch and I really, _really_ appreciate them. I started this fic more than four years ago, and I needed to know that people weren't coming to the page, seeing 'oh it was this story' and then closing the window and you guys really came through.

Now some people have complained that there isn't enough change in the events of this story, and I'm here to say there probably won't be. I'm trying to keep it interesting, but the jutsu they're under basically draws from their subconscious memories and makes a world (somewhat similar to a pensive from Harry Potter). This is _not_ a time-travel fic in the normal sense because technically THEY HAVEN'T TIME-TRAVELED. Naruto and Sasuke are living in _a completely mental_ world, and everyone is acting as they believe the people around them would/did. The jutsu doesn't allow for a lot of change because it isn't alive itself and only makes the world based on what it has to work with. So it _can't_ really hold up well under the influences of a whole lot of changes. The best it can do is draw from their minds and compensate for said changes based on the knowledge and opinions of both parties involved (Sasuke and Naruto), but there won't be a lot of that because _it would defeat the purpose of the jutsu and more importantly THE STORY. _Sasuke and Naruto are living each other's lives so they can understand one another. That can't happen if there are a bunch of major changes.

So if something seems a bit out of character but is following the original story, it's because the jutsu is leading them on and directing their thought process. Part of the reason it takes me so long to update is because I do consider every change very carefully. "Would the jutsu allow for this change to happen?" has been a very difficult question for me, and I'm probably going to get more liberal as the jutsu goes along because they will subconsciously (at least) notice the changes and it's going to push the jutsu (probably to a breaking point...which is why I have the 'current day' scenes).

If that makes sense.

Now Kyuubi is trying to disrupt it a little, but he's not actively doing much of anything because he finds it amusing. He's a giant, malevolent demon fox that has been trapped for the better part of a century. He won't remain amused for long.

And now you can understand the time difference between the two 'worlds' as well. Weeks can pass by in the equivalent of hours in the real world.

You wouldn't have even had the last scene there explaining anything if Telemicus Sundance hadn't read through this and given me his two cents. You should all thank him. Seriously.

Oh, and this hasn't been hard-core beta read for grammar and/or spelling. I've read through it myself a few times, but if I missed anything, please let me know. Thanx.


End file.
